Trolley Extension Remains on Budget and on Schedule to Begin Service in November

San Diego CA— SANDAG reached a new construction milestone for the Mid-Coast Extension of the UC San Diego Blue Line Trolley this morning. Crews installed the final steel structure for the project, moving the project one step closer to its final completion.
SANDAG installed the final steel structure at the UC San Diego Central Campus Trolley Station this morning, completing a pedestrian stairway that will provide UC San Diego students, staff, and visitors with access to the Trolley.
Steel is critical to the Trolley structure as well as the stairways and elevators at the station platforms. Since construction for the Trolley began in fall 2016, crews have installed approximately 2.5 million pounds of steel. Each of the fourteen elevator towers along the project includes between 20,000-35,000 pounds of steel.
The Mid-Coast Extension of the UC San Diego Blue Line Trolley is a SANDAG priority project and one of the largest transportation infrastructure projects in the San Diego region’s history. SANDAG plans, funds, and builds large mobility projects throughout the region working with its transportation operations partners.
The Trolley extension is an example of the type of infrastructure projects SANDAG aims to deliver through the 2021 Regional Plan, the agency’s long-term blueprint for creating faster, fairer, and cleaner transportation solutions that will serve the region for generations to come.
The Mid-Coast project will extend UC San Diego Blue Line service – operated by MTS — from Downtown San Diego north to the University Community, serving major activity centers such as Mission Bay Park, the VA Medical Center, UC San Diego, and University Towne Centre. The 11-mile extension will expand the MTS Trolley system to provide a one-seat ride from the U.S./Mexico Border to the University Community, with service to several communities in between.
The $2.1 billion project is made possible with funds from TransNet, the half-cent sales tax administered by SANDAG to support transportation projects in the San Diego region. TransNet is funding approximately half of the project, with the remaining funding provided by a grant from the Federal Transit Administration.
To learn more, visit KeepSanDiegoMoving.com/MidCoast.