JOHN R. McCUTCHEN / Union-Tribune A railway sign near Basil Street in Encinitas warns against illegally crossing the tracks. A plan envisions four pedestrian underpasses. Building them would cost $17 million, which city officials today will ask the state Transportation Commission to provide.

The crossings would go in at Montgomery Avenue near Cardiff Elementary School; Santa Fe Drive near Swami's Beach downtown; and El Portal near Paul Ecke Central Elementary School and Hillcrest Drive near Grandview Beach, both in Leucadia.

Having almost finished the design and engineering phases, Encinitas now must find money to build the underpasses.

Mayor Jerome Stocks is in Los Angeles today asking the California Transportation Commission for $17 million, which would pay for the crossings to be completed by the end of 2011.

The money would come from a massive $20 billion bond issue approved by California voters in 2006 for transportation. Encinitas is competing against other jurisdictions for a portion of the bond money earmarked for highway-and railroad-crossing safety.

OVERVIEW Background: Encinitas and the San Diego Association of Governments have cooperated on a project to install pedestrian underpasses below the rail line through the city. What's changing: With design work nearly finished, the city is looking for money to build the underpasses. Mayor Jerome Stocks today will ask the California Transportation Commission for $17 million from a state bond. The future: The commission will decide which projects will be funded at a meeting Aug. 27-28.

The commission's public hearing on the applications is scheduled for today. A vote on which projects will receive the money is scheduled for its next meeting, Aug. 27-28, said Annette Gilbertson, a spokeswoman for the commission.

Between 50 and 60 trains – including Amtrak, Coaster and freight – chug through Encinitas each day, according to train schedules.

There are six vehicle intersections where pedestrians can cross the tracks with traffic, and another crossing at the commuter rail station. The distance between crossings is as much as a mile, making them unappealing for people in a hurry.

Richard Phillips, assistant to City Manager Phil Cotton, will accompany the mayor to today's meeting. Phillips said it's common for people to risk their safety climbing over the tracks, even though it's a misdemeanor.

Since 2004, 11 people have died from being hit by a train in Encinitas, the city said. Most, including two this year, have been deemed suicides.

“Pedestrians do cross illegally and unsafely,” Phillips said.

Cardiff resident Brian Williams, who said he makes a living playing guitar in a band, said that even though jumping the rails is illegal, “I do it all the time.”

Williams said he crosses the tracks to visit the beach or a nearby campground. Additional crossings are a good idea, although the cost seemed steep, he said. “If it's going to keep kids safe, if it's going to help out with that, then by all means,” Williams said.

Tuesday afternoon, Madison Miller, 14, was barefoot and carrying a surfboard as he crossed the rails at the intersection of Chesterfield Drive and San Elijo Avenue. “I go across that to go to the beach every day,” he said.

Madison feels safe crossing at the intersection, but said it would be nice to have a dedicated underpass for pedestrians. To him, the $17 million construction tab sounded high.

“That sounds good, but I don't know if it's a lot of work just to (make it easier to) cross the street,” Madison said.

An advantage of the underpasses is that people will be able to cross the rail line without requiring the trains to stop.

After the underpasses are in place, Encinitas hopes one day to install quadruple gates at vehicle rail crossings and other safety measures so it can qualify as a federally designated “quiet zone” free of train-whistle noise, Stocks said.

Since April 2005, Encinitas and SANDAG have obtained $1.25 million, mostly from the state, for design and engineering work and environmental review for the underpasses.

The project is complex and expensive because it entails not only grading the land, but also converting the rail line into a stable bridge at each crossing.

Stocks said Encinitas residents called for pedestrian underpasses, rather than above-ground bridges – which would have cost less – during public workshops in 2005 and last year.

“Nobody wanted bridges because that was too much visual blight,” the mayor said. “That was a choice of the community.”

This week, Encinitas is seeking the construction funding on its own because the project didn't meet the criteria to be part of SANDAG's regional funding application.

SANDAG decided to request the state bond money for projects to improve heavily trafficked vehicle/trolley crossings, not pedestrian-only crossings, said its spokeswoman, Colleen Windsor.

“We put forward our most competitive projects,” Windsor said. “It's very limited funds, so we had to prioritize.”

That means Encinitas is competing against not only the SANDAG projects, but also San Diego's application for $8.4 million toward a planned pedestrian bridge on Park Boulevard at Harbor Drive.

Stocks said SANDAG has been supportive of the underpasses project and even provided technical assistance with the city's application.

Tanya Mannes: (619) 498-6639; tanya.mannes@uniontrib.com