SANDAG opens new rail bridge over San Diego River

[Editor's note: This story was updated on Feb. 8.]

The San Diego Association of Governments (SANDAG) earlier this week opened the first track on a new rail bridge over the San Diego River.

An Amtrak Pacific Surfliner train was the first to cross the 900-foot bridge, SANDAG officials said in a press release.

The new bridge is part of the San Diego River Double Track project, which is aimed at boosting passenger- and freight-rail capacity.

The San Diego River bridge is a key part of that project, since the structure is the only single-track segment south of Balboa Avenue in San Diego County. Once a parallel bridge is constructed and operational, there will be a continuous 7-mile double-track segment from Garnet Avenue/Balboa Avenue to the Santa Fe Depot in San Diego.

Double-tracking the rail line remains a priority for SANDAG and the North County Transit District, which operates the San Diego County section of the 351-mile Los Angeles-San Diego-San Luis Obispo (LOSSAN) corridor.

The double-track project budget is $93.9 million. Partial funding comes from the California State Transportation Agency, which awarded $66 million in cap-and-trade auction proceeds to three coastal rail projects, including the double-track effort.

Construction on the double-track project is scheduled to be completed in 2019.

#Video of this morning’s first train to cross new 900-foot rail bridge over #SanDiego River just north of Old Town. The switch to the new track was made during this past weekend’s rail closure. pic.twitter.com/txxzwliN1C

— SANDAG (@SANDAG) February 5, 2018