Initial critics included representatives of the Mormon Church, the La Jolla Village shopping mall, La Jolla Colony condominiums, La Jolla Country Day School and Clairemont residents who feared spiraling crime, Roberts recalls. When approval finally came, smiling SANDAG officials posed for a photo amid a mountain of environmental documents.
That, too, raised environmental roadblocks. Studies showed that the cheapest and fastest route was through Rose Canyon, but environmental concerns led instead to elevating the track over Interstate 5. The trolley extension faced fierce competition from other transportation projects, the make-or-break issue of funding and numerous other obstacles, including its route. Other than creation of the Waterfront Park adjacent to the County Administration Center, Roberts can’t recall another project with so many detractors and challenges. “He helped build most of the trolley Green Line and was in charge of project for latest extension up to La Jolla.” He was considered a brilliant engineer who could manage complex projects, Cooney says. The director of rail for SANDAG retired over the summer but returned to witness the festivities. “I told him the other night he was one of a handful of people who made this happen,” Roberts says. The FTA described it as one of the nation’s top three light rail extensions. He was the face of the project in Washington, D.C., where San Diego received a Federal Transit Administration $1 billion grant. Veteran lobbyist Peter Peyser circulated quietly in the crowd. Gallegos had played a key role in propelling the $2.1 billion trolley project through numerous bureaucratic hurdles.Īt the opening, Cooney gave an all-inclusive shout out to the hundreds of people who took part in the process over the years. highway transportation priorities and funding issues. “He really had a vision of what it would do for the university,” Cooney says.Īlso MIA on Sunday was Gary Gallegos, who stepped down as CEO of SANDAG (San Diego Association of Governments) in 2017 amid political wrangling over transit vs. So was UCSD Vice Chancellor Gary Matthews, who met regularly with Jablonski and Cooney. He repeated the trip with Chancellor Pradeep Khosla, who succeeded Fox in 2012. “Chancellor Fox was all on from Day One of that ride,” says Roberts. Roberts and Jablonski had escorted her on a trolley ride to SDSU, explaining how a similar scenario could be repeated at UCSD. Fox was a strong supporter of the trolley project from its early days. She died last May after a prolonged illness. “As our chair, Mathis was very active in trying to get funding for the project and helped with land acquisition,” Cooney says.Īlso absent Sunday was former UCSD Chancellor Marye Anne Fox. She didn’t see either at the opening event, but many invitees had conflicting Thanksgiving plans. She notes that former MTS Board Chairman Harry Mathis and retired longtime Metropolitan Transit District Board Chair Leon Williams were sent invitations. Cooney recalls him in a conference room laying out a tile pattern for the Balboa Avenue station. He was very hands on in the design,” she says. “Paul would have been overjoyed by how well received and how well constructed the project was.