The project, years in the making, would install a bridge rail at Prospect Place to protect people and property from collisions.
Plans for a replacement guard rail on westbound Torrey Pines Road between Coast Walk and Prospect Place are inching toward execution.
The project to replace a concrete K-rail with something more permanent has been in the works since 2021 and is currently 60 percent through the design phases, city of San Diego civil engineer Nazie Mansury said at the Jan 21 La Jolla Traffic & Transportation Board Meeting.
The proposal will install 350 feet of bridge rails, determined necessary after a car drove off Torrey Pines Road into a private yard on Coast Walk in 2018.
The ST-75 Bridge Rail is made of galvanized steel and is used on freeways but has recently been approved by Caltrans for road use, said Larry Thornburg, director of engineering for Nasland Engineering and engineer on record for this project.
The bridge rail is “more robust” than the K-rail,” Thornburg said. Designed for impact, the rail would be 42 inches high with a bike rail along the top to prevent vehicles from “overtopping” the structure.
Photo by Provisions Media
The guard rail will terminate in a 20-foot concrete barrier with a crash cushion, the barrels normally placed at the end of similar structures.
The rails of the structure will also allow for visibility, as many at the meeting raised concerns about pedestrian visibility.
Ray Weiss lives in The Village and walks to and from work at the Scripps Institution of Oceanography and said the visibility through the rails is a good thing, as without streetlights on that stretch of Torrey Pines, a walk in the dark on that block leads to temporary blinding from the headlights of oncoming traffic and possible trips or other injury.
The project, which will also extend the sidewalk about a foot and a half into the street for accessibility requirements, will not encroach on private property, Mansury said.
The design phase is expected to be finished in spring, she said, with construction finishing in summer 2026.
Construction will likely entail closing the sidewalk and a lane of traffic on Torrey Pines Road, Thornburg said, which board members and others opposed.
There is “a tremendous amount of pedestrian traffic through there,” T&T board member Chas. Dye said.
“It’s also the only pedestrian route between The Shores and The Village,” Weiss said.
And closing a lane for cars will “cause the worst traffic jam every day,” board member Jason Peaslee said.
“Construction is always challenging,” Thornburg said. “It’s hard, … but it is going to take some basic lane closures to build this structure.”
The city has completed a traffic control plan, Mansury said, adding the plan is being reviewed by city staff.
Mansury and Thornburg also said night work is possible, though that would affect the project cost, which is currently estimated at $1,474,100.
Coast Walk resident Brenda Fake said pedestrians could possibly be redirected around the site via Coast Walk Trail.
The item was heard as discussion only; the city will continue to update T&T on project progress, Mansury said.
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