A.V. WANTS LOCAL RAIL STOP; LOS ANGELES MEETING TO DISCUSS 2 TRAIN ROUTES.

Byline: Jim Skeen Daily News Staff Writer

Antelope Valley civic leaders are gearing up for one more push to get the valley included on the state's high-speed rail line, but they worry they might be facing an uphill battle.

The local leaders are assembling a contingent to attend Wednesday's meeting in Los Angeles of the California High-Speed Rail Authority, which is scheduled that day to decide whether the high speed line should run through the Antelope Valley or bypass it in favor of a shorter route through Gorman.

``We need to go in hungry and willing to fight for our alignment,'' said Mayor Jim Ledford.

The Antelope Valley appears to be in a tough fight to be included in the plan, said Palmdale Councilman David Myers.

Myers, who also chairs the Southern California Council of Governments' transportation and communications committee, said he has heard from his sources that the authority's staff is leaning toward a recommendation to bypass the Antelope Valley.

Whatever plan is approved will need some type of voter-approved financing. Bypassing the Antelope Valley - which was included on the rail line by a previous state commission - won't win many votes, Myers said.

``You're going to have to have the support of the people. Locking out the people of the Antelope Valley is not going to get you support,'' Myers said. ``We hope to have a large turnout at the meeting. Hopefully they will be responsive to that.''

The rail authority's executive director, Mehdi Morshed, voted against the Antelope Valley alignment when he served as a board member of the previous commission.

Rail authority staffers have not made any decisions about the recommended route at this point, said John Barna, deputy director of the rail authority.

``We're taking a look at all sorts of options. We haven't finalized any staff recommendations,'' Barna said last week.

To help bring a crowd to the meeting, Palmdale is arranging for bus transportation. The Antelope Valley Board of Trade is working to have its membership travel to the meeting by Metrolink train.

Antelope Valley civic leaders plan to emphasis two issues - the potential for greater economic development with a High Desert route and the requirement for tunneling through mountains on the proposed Interstate 5 route that could cause budget problems.

Consultants retained by Palmdale said there is a potential for as much as $500 million more in economic development in the Antelope Valley than along the mountainous, sparsely populated Grapevine route through Gorman.

A rail authority report states a route through the Antelope Valley would pose fewer environmental headaches, but would add six to nine minutes of travel time between Los Angeles and the San Joaquin Valley and cost $237 million to $798 million more than an Interstate 5 route.

The Interstate 5 route, however, likely would require a tunnel across the Garlock earthquake fault. Tunneling projects can be problematic, Antelope Valley officials say, noting the tunneling problems that occurred with the Red Line subway in Hollywood.

``That (tunneling) will blow their budget out of the water,'' Myers said.

A rail route roughly following Interstate 5 north of Santa Clarita through the Grapevine Pass would cost $4.6 billion if built at a 3.5 percent grade and $4.05 billion if built at a 5 percent grade, according to the rail authority report.

Palmdale officials note that there are no rail systems operating at a 5 percent grade.

A rail line through Palmdale and Mojave would cost $4.85 billion, state officials say.

An Interstate 5 route would be shorter than an Antelope Valley route by 32.5 miles, but environmental difficulties could add to its expense, the report says.

The proposed route goes through the Angeles National Forest. The construction of train tracks could mar views, and costly measures might be required to compensate for harm to the environment.

The rail authority is scheduled to put a financing plan for a high-speed rail system on the November 2000 ballot.

The 670-mile rail system is expected to cost $23.3 billion if the rail authority chooses high-speed rail technology that already is in use, or as much as $31.6 billion if it chooses emerging maglev technology, using magnetic fields to propel trains at speeds up to 310 mph.

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