The Inland Rail Trail Now Reaches Civic Center Drive. Why Vista's Last Two Miles Are Still on Hold

Since Sept. 26 you can start at the Escondido Transit Center and travel about 12 miles west on a path that never shares a lane with a car. It ends at the Civic Center–Vista SPRINTER station, 810 Phillips St. Two miles farther north, past downtown, another finished piece of the same trail waits at North Drive. Nothing separated links the two yet, and the agency building the trail hasn't set a date for when anything will.

That gap shapes how the newest stretch actually gets used. The station on Phillips Street was planned as a midpoint. For the foreseeable future it is the western end of the separated trail, and the place where anyone heading into the Vista Village leaves the path for the street.

What opened on Sept. 26, and what it finished

The San Diego Association of Governments, known as SANDAG, opened Phase 3 the same Saturday morning Vista held its third annual Cyclovia downtown. The segment is about 1.1 miles long and runs beside the SPRINTER tracks from Mar Vista Drive to Civic Center Drive. North Coast Current reported that it is ADA-accessible and comes with lighting, drought-tolerant landscaping, drainage improvements, and a small pocket park and rest area at Mar Vista Drive. Construction started in 2024. Crews were working on ground that rises as much as 25 feet above the tracks in places. On SANDAG's project page, Phase 3's total cost is listed as $27.924 million, funded by TransNet and state Active Transportation Program grants.

Here is how the trail fits together today, using SANDAG's own segment descriptions:

The table makes the layout clear. Everything east of Civic Center Drive now forms one continuous path. Everything west of it is a half-mile piece at the Oceanside line that connects to nothing on its eastern end. Phase 4 is the link between them, and it runs through what SANDAG calls "two of the busiest streets in Vista."

Why the construction money for the last two miles went back to the state

The plan was to start Phase 4 this year, using money the state awarded back in 2021. The Coast News reported in June that SANDAG had to return that money instead, because the design wasn't far enough along to meet the state's deadline for spending it. At the May 8 board meeting, SANDAG CEO Mario Orso put it this way: "We weren't ready. The money is going to expire. It's earmarked for construction, so it wasn't going to happen."

Vista Councilmember Corinna Contreras represents the city on the SANDAG board. In the same Coast News story, she pointed out that earlier SANDAG documents called Phase 4 "final design" even though the project had not yet reached 60% design. She also told the paper:

"The problem is that Phase 4 of Vista, the last phase we need to complete, has been in design for a very long time."

Returning the money kept the door open. According to that report, SANDAG plans to apply for Phase 4 funding again in a future grant cycle, and an expired grant would have shut the agency out of future funding. For the coming year, SANDAG set aside about $900,000 to bring the design to 60%. After that it will decide whether to build the segment all at once or in smaller pieces.

The cost figure in SANDAG's own letter

News coverage described the returned money as "around $11.7 million." The formal request SANDAG sent the California Transportation Commission on June 11 gives the precise figure, $10,821,000 in construction funds from Cycle 5 of the Active Transportation Program. The original award also included a separate $1,236,000 for design work, which brought the total to $12,057,000.

The more telling number is the cost. In June, the Coast News story reported a $34.2 million project budget. SANDAG's letter, written days earlier, says construction costs are "now exceeding approximately $60 million." It describes a new plan to build in "smaller, phased segments," pursuing "future ATP Cycles for Segment 1 Construction funding" while right-of-way and design work continue on the full corridor. The letter doesn't name a grant cycle or a target year. It also doesn't say which stretch between Civic Center Drive and North Drive would come first.

This matters for anyone checking older material. The City of Vista's trail page still carries a 2021 grant announcement saying construction on the gap was expected to begin in 2022. SANDAG's current page lists Phase 4 as in design while "the project team is currently working through budget and schedule details."

Phillips Street is the trailhead now

With the gap open-ended, the Civic Center–Vista station is where Vista's separated path begins and ends. Opening day showed how the area connects. The group ride met at 8:30 a.m. at Mar Vista Drive and Phillips Street and rode the new 1.1 miles to the station for the ribbon-cutting. It then continued north along Civic Center Drive, on the street, to Cyclovia on East Broadway and South Citrus Avenue. For now, that's the route between the trail and the Village.

NCTD says parking is free at every SPRINTER station except Cal State San Marcos and San Marcos Civic Center. The spaces are meant for transit customers. If you're starting farther east, the Buena Creek station at 2103 S. Santa Fe Ave. is the other Vista stop on the line.

The corner closest to the trail's end is changing too. The Coast News reported that Trendy Department Store, which has been in the shopping center at the northeast corner of Civic Center Drive and South Santa Fe Avenue for more than 20 years, will stay open through the end of the year. The building is up for sale. Farther toward downtown, the San Diego Union-Tribune reported that Desserts by Clément opened in late August at 30 Main St., Suite G-180, in the space that used to be Little Cakes Kitchen. French-born pastry chef Clément Le Déoré runs it. The Vista Chamber of Commerce has also announced a fall move to 350 E. Broadway, according to the North County Daily Star.

Dates near the trail's end this fall

The Downtown Vista calendar has several reasons to ride the new stretch and then continue north into the Village:

1. Fright Night in Vista, Oct. 30, 5 to 9 p.m. This free family Halloween event is hosted with the City of Vista at the Haunted AVO Playhouse.
2. Haunted Tiki Speakeasy, Fridays and Saturdays through Halloween weekend. Belching Beaver Tavern and Grill serves specialty tiki and Halloween cocktails, with a new password every night.
3. Vista Farmers Market, every Saturday, 8 a.m. to noon. It has run since 1981, rain or shine, and features more than 50 farmers.
4. Vista Makers Market, Sunday, Nov. 1, 1 to 5 p.m. This indoor market of handcrafted and small-batch goods is held at The Commons, 802 S. Santa Fe.
5. Trivia at 508 Tavern, Thursdays, 6:30 to 8:30 p.m. It's held on the patio and is free to play.
6. Vista Community Market, Nov. 28, 11 a.m. to 4 p.m. It features local makers and live music in the Gazebo Parking Lot at South Indiana Avenue and Main Street.
7. 68th Annual Vista Christmas Parade, Dec. 5, 1 p.m. This year's theme is Candyland Adventures.

The full calendar lists more weekly events, including line dancing at Inzane and Friday Night Comedy.

If you want to follow the gap itself, the San Diego County Bike Coalition is one place to watch. Vista's recap of opening day mentioned the coalition's advocacy committee and said Vista's Sustainable Mobility Plan is still in development. SANDAG's project page is where a Phase 4 schedule would show up first, along with any announcement of which segment gets built before the rest.

Riding the new segment is the easiest way to see the gap: you start at Mar Vista Drive, ride 1.1 lit miles beside the tracks, and the separated path stops at Phillips Street. At Crown & Coast Properties, we follow changes like this across North County because they shape how a neighborhood works day to day. If you'd like to talk about how projects like the Inland Rail Trail connect the parts of Vista you care about, book a consultation with us.