Final utility pole removed from La Jolla Shores neighborhood, ending phase of undergrounding project

City of San Diego representatives joined San Diego Gas & Electric crews in La Jolla Shores the morning of June 6 for the removal of a neighborhood's last overhead utility pole and the conclusion of an undergrounding project there.

Phase 2 of the La Jolla Circuit 1J Undergrounding Project included putting overhead utilities underground in the area east of La Jolla Shores Drive from the Scripps Institution of Oceanography south to Nautilus Street, installing five new streetlights and 14 disabled-accessible pedestrian ramps, and planting 24 new street trees.

"We are here to celebrate the last remaining overhead utility pole from this part of the La Jolla Shores neighborhood being removed at long last," San Diego Mayor Todd Gloria said before the final pole was taken out in the 2300 block of Avenida de la Playa.

The undergrounding will "improve public safety and aesthetics for our community, as well as the overall reliability and resilience of our critical utility systems," Gloria said.

Work on Phase 2 began in 2019 and has provided 1.8 miles of underground electrical, telephone and broadband utilities serving 81 homes.

However, Gloria acknowledged that there is still much more to do.

Phase 1 of the Circuit 1J Undergrounding Project — including La Jolla Shores west of La Jolla Shores Drive from Scripps Oceanography south to Avenida de la Playa — was originally scheduled to be finished in the third quarter of this year but will be pushed later into the year so communications companies can remove their lines from the poles. After that, the poles can be removed.

To move Phase 1 toward completion, "the city and utility companies are working together to resolve technical issues," said San Diego City Councilman Joe LaCava, whose District 1 includes La Jolla.

Additional undergrounding projects in other La Jolla neighborhoods are underway, he said.

Get the La Jolla Light weekly in your inbox

News, features and sports about La Jolla, every Thursday for free

You may occasionally receive promotional content from the La Jolla Light.

A larger project to put all of San Diego's utilities below ground will be brought "up to speed" under a new franchise agreement with SDG&E and will place about 1,000 miles of overhead lines underground over the next 54 years, Gloria said. The city currently is undergrounding about 15 miles of overhead utility lines each year. At that pace, it would take nearly 67 years to underground 1,000 miles of lines.

"The goal is for them to be underground before I am," Gloria joked.

He said undergrounding is "one of the most complicated things we do" and involves taking out poles, placing utilities underground and upgrading infrastructure while maintaining service during the whole process.

Thus, LaCava said "it's worth taking a moment to celebrate as yet another neighborhood enjoys the benefit of utilities that are safer and more reliable."

La Jolla Shores Association President Janie Emerson thanked Gloria and LaCava "for all their efforts on behalf of La Jolla Shores" and said: "This area serves so many people across the entire city, so this isn't just for our neighborhood. … It is for all visitors and everyone across San Diego. We thank you for targeting this neighborhood as important."

An overview of the undergrounding work and an update to the schedule will be discussed at a City Council Environment Committee meeting this month. A date has not yet been announced. ◆