Torrey Pines Road guardrail construction now slated to begin next summer

The replacement of a long-standing K-rail barrier on a section of Torrey Pines Road in La Jolla with 350 feet of metal bridge rail is now expected to take place months after it was originally planned.

The previous timeline had construction beginning this winter on the north side of Torrey Pines between Coast Walk and Prospect Place and ending by next summer. Now it is expected to commence in the summer and conclude by the end of 2026.

The schedule was adjusted “due to the addition of pothole activity confirming the location of underground utilities,” San Diego city spokesman Caleb Olsen told the La Jolla Light. That information is being verified and incorporated in the final design plans, Olsen said.

According to the city’s Capital Improvement Program database, the design phase of the project is expected to wrap up by the end of this year. Olsen said an “advertising phase” will start this winter in which the city solicits bids from contractors to work on the project.

The week of Aug. 18-22, La Jolla residents and visitors got a taste of what the project might look like when the westbound right-turn lane and bike lane between Coast Walk and Prospect Place were closed in the morning and afternoon as preliminary work was conducted.

City crews completed pothole work and confirmed the locations of underground utilities before doing “other, minor activities” as a way to “help determine specifics of the project scope,” city spokesman Tyler Becker said at the time.

Commute times as long as 40 minutes caused concerns among La Jolla residents, with some describing the prospect of the guardrail construction as a potential traffic nightmare, “a mess” and “a disaster.” Others pointed to a need for the project, despite the inconveniences.

City Council President Joe LaCava, whose District 1 includes La Jolla, told the Light that he acknowledges the challenges of the project and the patience it requires but pointed to a key difference between the preliminary work and the construction phase.

The plan is to have a phase of nighttime work in which the northern westbound traffic lane and its neighboring bike lane would be closed, according to the city. The area is to be cleared for vehicle use during the day, barring unforeseen circumstances.

“[The] pre-construction work was done during daylight hours and caused considerable disruption and congestion,” LaCava said. “The actual construction, in contrast, will be done at night to avoid similar impacts.”

City officials could not immediately be reached for comment on whether any construction details have changed recently.

The original timeline was announced earlier this year at a La Jolla Traffic & Transportation Board meeting by city project manager Nazie Mansury and Larry Thornburgh, director of engineering at Nasland Engineering, the engineer of record for the project.

T&T Chairman Erik Gantzel said he learned of the construction delay a couple of weeks ago from Mansury in response to questions about the traffic control plan.

“On one hand, I’m relieved the city isn’t rushing ahead before all the pieces are in place, and I’m also relieved that the traffic nightmare isn’t upon us quite yet,” Gantzel said. “On the other hand, it would be nice to just get it over with.”

The guardrail project is a long time coming.

The saga began in January 2018 when a car careened off Torrey Pines Road onto the adjacent hillside, landing in the yard of one of the Coast Walk houses below. Soon after, the concrete K-rail was installed as a temporary protective measure.

A year later, efforts began to find a more permanent solution. Thornburgh said the 42-inch-tall ST-75 bridge rail is see-through and “more robust than the K-rail.”