Council, to Save Bay Views, Backs Modified Trolley Route Plan

Hoping to avert what one resident termed “the rape of a neighborhood,” the San Diego City Council on Tuesday recommended that trolley tracks pass through Little Italy and Harbor View at street level except for a two-block section to be elevated over Laurel Street or built underground to prevent traffic congestion.

Under a compromise approved unanimously by the council, trolley cars would have the right of way over automobiles at other intersections in the community--a plan that would mean longer waits for motorists, but which transit officials insist is needed to preserve the trolley’s efficiency.

The final authority over the light-rail line rests with the Metropolitan Transit Development Board, which is expected to decide the thorny question at its July 25 meeting.

Tuesday’s council session served as a precursor of next week’s MTDB meeting, as members weighed aesthetics and cultural considerations against economics and traffic factors in trying to decide whether the trolley tracks should pass through Harbor View-Little Italy at ground level, above it or beneath it. Situated just northwest of downtown, the community is bounded by Interstate 5, Laurel Street, Grape Street and Harbor Drive.

As part of an $89-million, 3 1/2-mile trolley expansion to Old Town from downtown, MTDB officials prefer to elevate the eight-block section passing through the Harbor View-Little Italy neighborhood in order to prevent congestion for both trolley cars and motor vehicles. During peak traffic periods, the trolley and trains would eventually block automobiles for 38 minutes out of each hour, according to Tom Larwin, MTDB’s general manager.

Residents and business leaders, however, complained to the council that the elevated tracks would damage the area’s scenic bay views, harming property values and their neighborhood’s character.

Michael Galasso, president of the Harbor View-Little Italy Neighborhood Coalition, said the proposed, 23-foot-high elevated track would “form a visual and psychological barrier between this community and its major amenity, the bay.”

Seeking to balance trolley officials’ concerns against those of the community, Councilman Ron Roberts proposed the compromise, which, if adopted by the 15-member MTDB board, would preserve the picturesque views along Grape and Hawthorn streets by bringing the trolley through those blocks at street level.

Because the trolley would have priority over automobiles, longer waits at some already busy intersections are a predictable outgrowth of Tuesday’s plan. Roberts, however, argued that traffic levels at Grape and Hawthorn streets would remain at “manageable levels,” and neighborhood leaders described the extra congestion as an acceptable trade-off that would have a less severe impact on their community than the elevated tracks.

“We accept the trolley crossings, the bells, the congestion--it’s urban living,” said restaurateur Tom Fat, owner of Fat City and China Camp. “We accept it as a community, and we won’t complain 20 years from now.”

At Laurel Street, the trolley tracks would either be built underground or elevated, depending upon financial considerations. Though the council favors the underground plan, it would cost $7 million more than elevating the two-block stretch of tracks over Laurel Street. If MTDB cannot secure funds from the state or the San Diego Unified Port District to cover that $7-million gap, then the tracks should be elevated, Roberts said.

Roberts’ proposal, approved by a 7-0 vote, with Councilwoman Abbe Wolfsheimer and Councilman John Hartley absent, also encourages MTDB to build a trolley station near Juniper Street.

Despite that unanimity, Councilman Bruce Henderson warned that asking MTDB to build the more costly underground tracks “without check in hand” could prompt the agency to choose the controversial elevated-track proposal favored by its staffers.

Other council members and community leaders, however, said they saw no reason--financial or otherwise--for the city to be reticent about pushing aggressively for the underground tracks.

Because of the money that would be saved by building most of the trolley tracks through Harbor View-Little Italy at ground level, construction of underground tracks at Laurel Street would produce a total price tag of $87 million, $2 million below MTDB’s original budget, according to figures provided by Larwin.

“Why not say that we’re saving you $2 million?” Councilman Bob Filner asked, arguing that the cost estimates strengthen the city’s bargaining position.

Roberts responded: “That’s the same kind of logic my wife uses when she goes to Nordstrom and finds something on sale.” At next week’s MTDB meeting, Roberts added, the city must avoid the appearance of asking for something that it is unwilling to fund.

Accordingly, some have suggested that, if residents and businesses in Harbor View-Little Italy want the underground tracks, then they should be willing to pay a special assessment to pay for the extra cost.

Other city officials, however, argue that it would be unfair to make the community bear the entire cost, pointing to Port studies showing that about 80% of the traffic at the Laurel Street intersection is generated by trips to and from Lindbergh Field.

Since the Port District derives much of its income from the airport, city and MTDB officials “ought to ask the port to come up with some of that money” for the underground tracks, said Mayor Maureen O’Connor.

“I probably shop at the same shops Mrs. Roberts shops at, but . . . I agree with Mr. Filner--we are saving money,” O’Connor added.