Encinitas Lands $33.6 Million for Rail Crossings, a Quiet Zone, and a Beach Undercrossing
Encinitas is set to receive up to $33.6 million in federal rail-crossing money, The Coast News reported Aug. 18. The grant funds new pedestrian and bike crossings in Leucadia, a Verdi-to-Liszt undercrossing toward San Elijo State Beach, new gates at E Street, D Street, and Leucadia Boulevard, and downtown station changes that close the midplatform crossing. This is not new housing. It is the infrastructure that buyers west of the tracks actually feel.
What the money pays for
The Federal Railroad Administration picked the Encinitas Citywide Railroad Crossing Safety Improvement project under the Federal-State Partnership for Intercity Passenger Rail Program. It covers about six miles of the LOSSAN corridor on North County Transit District tracks. The city will put up a 20% match. Deputy Mayor Jim O'Hara told The Coast News the work helps safety, downtown commerce, and regional rail. Design on the Verdi Avenue undercrossing is already done and got Planning Commission approval in August 2025. Grandview Street and Phoebe Street crossings are at about 35% design. Quiet-zone work at E Street, D Street, Leucadia Boulevard, and the downtown station is expected to reach 90% design by the end of summer. A separate $124.4 million SANDAG award will double-track a stretch through Oceanside and Camp Pendleton. That is a different project.
Why it matters
- A citywide quiet zone and safer crossings change livability for homes along the tracks in Leucadia, downtown Encinitas, and Cardiff-adjacent blocks.
- The Verdi undercrossing has been waiting on money. Funded beach access is a neighborhood amenity, not a unit count.
- Construction windows will affect Coaster and Pacific Surfliner access and nearby streets. Price that into timing if you are closing near the corridor.
Sources: The Coast News on the Encinitas rail grant; Times of San Diego on the $150 million Surfliner awards; NBC 7 on the Pacific Surfliner grants.
Related on this site: Ocean Bluff 27 homes.
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For a buyer in Encinitas, a funded quiet zone and beach undercrossing is still a jumbo-versus-conforming question if you are shopping west of the tracks. See jumbo loans in Encinitas.
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