Derailed for decades, the project proposed to turn the nondescript alleyway at the end of B Street, just north of downtown San Diego\u2019s Santa Fe Depot, into a pedestrian-friendly access point for the transit station is now on track to be completed by next summer.<\/p>\n
Last week, San Diego City Council members voted unanimously to approve a contract with city consultant Civic San Diego to construct what\u2019s known as the B Street Pedestrian Corridor project.<\/p>\n
Council members also authorized spending $2.2 million on the enhanced sidewalk project, using a little more than $2 million from a fund set up to pay for the outstanding obligations of the city\u2019s dissolved redevelopment agency.<\/p>\n
The project will replace the existing alley between Kettner Boulevard and the train station at the western terminus of B Street.<\/p>\n
The pedestrian corridor will feature board-formed concrete, brick pavers, new lighting, new bollards and a new wall with a San Diego-themed graphic adjacent to the Stone Brewing restaurant in the neighboring McClintock Building, Christina Bibler, the director of San Diego\u2019s Economic Development Department, told the Union-Tribune.<\/p>\n
The City Council actions advance the B Street Pedestrian Corridor project to the construction phase, which is expected to start in September after final sign-off from the county and state.<\/p>\n
\u201cThis is a project that has been decades in the making. It\u2019s going to provide much-needed pedestrian improvements. It\u2019ll make it easier for people to access public transportation. It\u2019ll increase safety around the Santa Fe Depot for downtown residents and visitors alike,\u201d Councilmember Stephen Whitburn said at the June 30 meeting.<\/p>\n
The corridor project has a complicated past that dates to 1993, when the city\u2019s former redevelopment agency amended its contract with the depot\u2019s then-owner, Catellus Development Corporation, to allow for redevelopment of the land around the station.<\/p>\n
A separate agreement between Catellus, the redevelopment agency, the city and the Museum of Contemporary Art \u2014 approved in 2002 and executed in 2004 \u2014 transferred the depot\u2019s baggage building at 1100 Kettner Blvd. to the museum. The transfer agreement required the city\u2019s redevelopment agency to construct the public pathway at its expense, with the museum obligated to contribute $150,000 toward costs.<\/p>\n
In the years since, the former redevelopment agency worked to come up with a project scope, but ran into various obstacles given the intricacies of the corridor and the various stakeholders, Bibler said. Then, in 2012, redevelopment agencies were dissolved by the state and their obligations transferred to successor agencies.<\/p>\n
The change halted active progress, which remained stalled until 2019. That\u2019s when the city settled litigation<\/a> related to its relationship with Civic San Diego. At the time, Civic was a city-owned nonprofit operating as downtown\u2019s planning agency while also overseeing wind-down functions of the redevelopment agency.<\/p>\n Civic then reorganized as an independent public benefit company. It now serves as a city consultant on redevelopment agency obligations.<\/p>\n