Tecolote Road is the first stop on the Blue Line Midcoast Extension. The station is located at a grade but fully grade-separated as the two trolley tracks run on the eastern side of the corridor shared with the two tracks used by Coaster and the Amtrak Pacific Surfliner, with I-5 just to the west. This station is located just south of the Tecolote Road overpass over the railroad tracks and I-5 (at a highway interchange). The station is just three-quarters of a mile from the Morena/Linda Vista Station on the Green Line, its first stop after the two rail lines seperate south of the station as they both cross the San Diego River.
The station consists of two side platforms for the two track line, these platforms have four pedestrian connections: two at each end that dip down to track level and two more towards the northern and southern ends of each platform that require a step to get from the 6 inch high platform down to the pedestrian-crossing. Each of these platforms have two larger canopy structures with brown support beams holding up cream colored canopy roofs.
The San Ysidro-bound platform contains a decorative wall with smaller pastel blue and green tiles towards the top and larger blocks of orange, beige and white tiles below; this wall acts as a windscreen, separating this platform from passing Coaster and Amtrak trains.
All access to the station is from the UTC-bound platform, here ADA accessible parking spaces run directly along the station platform with a total of 279 parking spaces in two park & ride lots. The main station entrance, and only entrance for vehicles, is from the intersection of Morena Blvd and Vega Street with Vega Street basically ends at the passenger pick-up/drop off area at the southern end of the trolley platforms. The end of Vega Street provides both access to the station and to some warehouse businesses just south of the stan. The main parking lot is just north of here in a triangular lot bounded by Morena Blvd with a much smaller (and empty when I visited the station on Comic-Con weekend) overflow lot just south of the station platforms.
Pedestrians have one additional entrance via a crosswalk through the main parking lot by the northside of the trolley platforms to an unused bus stop pad along Morena Blvd. Across from this bus stop pad is a staircase and ramp to provide access to the bridge of Tecolote Road that crosses the station, I-5 and Morena Blvd but there is no pedestrian crossing. Lots of no pedestrian signs line the concrete median of Morena Blvd directing the pedestrians to cross at the crosswalk at Morena Blvd and Vega Street by the southern end of the platform to reach Tecolote Road.
Photos 1-21: July 24, 2022
Old Town