Oceanside prepares to start final segment of Inland Rail Trail

Oceanside planners met with consultants in July to discuss completion of the final 7.4-mile segment of the partially finished Inland Rail Trail.

The city received a $438,471 grant from Caltrans late last year to study an aligment that would take the trail from a finished segment at Melrose Drive in Vista and connect it with the Coastal Rail Trail at the Oceanside Transit Center. The Caltrans grant required a $56,809 match from the city.

“Staff met with Kimley-Horn (the consultant) on July 22 to kick-off the project,” according to a July 25 update presented to the Oceanside City Council.

“The main goals include providing a ‘grant-ready’ project, so that recommendations can be submitted for implementation through local, state, or federal funding sources and to rely heavily on public and stakeholder input throughout all project phases,” the update states.

The completed 21-mile trail will follow the east-west Sprinter rail line just north of state Route 78 through Oceanside, Vista, San Marcos and Escondido. As a Class I bikeway, the trail uses fences and walls to separate cyclists and pedestrians from vehicular traffic.

In addition to the traffic safety barriers, the rail trail includes landscaping, lighting, bridges, drainage improvements and connections to Sprinter rail stations along the way.

Construction is a little more than half finished and has progressed from east to west. The easternmost seven miles from the Escondido Transit ...