News Release

SANDAG Chair and Encinitas Mayor Catherine Blakespear and SANDAG Vice Chair and San Diego Mayor Todd Gloria joined SANDAG, Caltrans, MTS, and UC San Diego leadership to celebrate ongoing Mid-Coast Trolley project successes Wednesday morning. 

The event, held at the future UC San Diego Health La Jolla Trolley Station, highlighted construction progress at the Trolley station and the successful realignment of Campus Point Drive, signifying a major milestone toward the final completion of the Trolley extension project.

'The Mid-Coast Trolley project will give people real transportation choices and improve connections to employment centers, the UC San Diego campus, and health centers,' said Blakespear. 'The eventual completion of the Mid-Coast Trolley project – the largest infrastructure project in our region's history – is a significant step in bringing the 2021 Regional Plan to life by developing a faster, fairer, and cleaner transportation system for generations to come.'

The $2.1 billion Mid-Coast Trolley project will extend UC San Diego Blue Line Trolley service from Santa Fe Depot in 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 Center. The 11-mile extension includes nine new Trolley stations, two of which are located on the UC San Diego campus. The UC San Diego Health La Jolla Trolley Station will provide direct transit access to nearby medical facilities, schools, and employment centers.

“To become a truly great city, and a great region, we must make transportation more equitable, more environmentally sustainable, and more efficient. The Mid-Coast Trolley project moves us forward on all these counts,” said San Diego Mayor Gloria. “I want to thank SANDAG, Caltrans, UC San Diego, and all the partners involved in this project for using the Trolley extension to better connect the region to the University community and everything around it.”

The Mid-Coast Trolley project remains on budget and on schedule, with service along the UC San Diego Blue Line Trolley extension anticipated to begin later this year. The extension will expand the MTS Trolley system, providing a direct connection from the U.S./Mexico Border to the University City community, with service to several communities in between.

Campus Point Drive was realigned through the concurrent Voigt Drive Improvements project, a Caltrans effort being constructed by Mid-Coast Trolley Constructors and in close coordination with SANDAG. The realignment is an integral part of the Mid-Coast Trolley project and is designed to provide transit users with direct access to the future Trolley station, reduce traffic congestion in the area, and improve overall traffic flow for students, visitors, and commuters in the University community.

“We are excited to celebrate the completion of this construction,” said Caltrans North County Corridors Director Allan Kosup. “This project shares our vision for a brighter future for all through a world-class transportation network.”

The Mid-Coast Trolley 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 will fund 52 percent of the project, with the remaining funding being provided by a grant from the Federal Transit Administration. Major construction for the project began in 2016.

Construction for the Voigt Drive Improvements project began in December 2019 and is anticipated to be completed this fall. Approximately 60 percent of the $42.8 million project is being funded by TransNet. Additional funding is being provided by the Road Repair and Accountability Act of 2017, also known as Senate Bill 1, and UC San Diego.

About Caltrans
Caltrans District 11 serves one of the most geographically and culturally diverse areas in the country and includes San Diego and Imperial counties. It spans the entire California-Mexico Border from the Pacific coast to Arizona and reaches north from the international border to Orange and Riverside counties.

For media inquiries, please contact Stacy Garcia at 619.699.1950 or PIO@sandag.org