NCTD receives $657000 state grant for climate adaptation plans - The San Diego Union-Tribune

NCTD receives $657,000 state grant for climate adaptation plans - The San Diego Union-Tribune

NCTD receives $657,000 state grant for climate adaptation plans

Money will help with projects, such as Del Mar bluff stabilization and replacement of low-lying wooden rail bridge

North County Transit District officials announced Thursday they have been awarded a $627,000 state grant to help plan ways to adapt to climate change.

The money will help cover the costs of projects such as stabilizing the eroding bluffs along the railroad tracks in Del Mar and building a higher, double-tracked bridge to replace the 107-year-old, wooden, single-track rail bridge over the San Dieguito River.

“NCTD’s service area spans urban, suburban, coastal, and rural communities, each facing unique challenges related to changing climates,” NCTD board Chair Jewel Edson said in a news release. “It is critical that NCTD protect our region’s transportation infrastructure to ensure access to essential public transit services now and into the future.”

The money from state Department of Transportation’s Climate Adaptation Planning - Sustainable Transportation Planning Grant Program will allow NCTD to build on existing efforts to adapt to sea-level rise and extreme weather.

Oceanside, National City, San Diego and the San Diego Association of Governments also received allocations in the state program’s fiscal 2023-24 awards.

Oceanside will get $438,471 for a feasibility study needed to complete the final 7.4-mile segment of the 21-mile Inland Rail Trail between Oceanside and Escondido.

National City will get $422,918 for transportation programs intended to improve sustainability and service for low-income and under-served neighborhoods, and San Diego will get $700,000 to update its Bicycle Master Plan, meant to improve mobility and decrease greenhouse gases.

SANDAG will get four separate grants, the largest of which is $3 million to work with the Metropolitan Transit System on plans to improve mobility in downtown San Diego.

SANDAG also will receive separate grants of $700,000, $500,000 and $480,000 for projects to reduce the overall vehicle miles traveled, improve trolley service, and upgrade mobility infrastructure across the county.

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