AGENCY NIXES HIGH-SPEED RAIL STATIONS SCV SITES FOUND UNSUITABLE.

Byline: Naush Boghossian Staff Writer

SANTA CLARITA - All five of the high-speed rail stations proposed for Santa Clarita have been eliminated by the agency planning the commuter train that would link the Bay Area to San Diego.

The California High-Speed Rail Authority cut the Santa Clarita Valley sites after reviews indicated the locations posed significant environmental problems or other issues.

``Some were eliminated because they were in environmentally constrained areas and others were near portals to tunnels requiring large openings,'' said Carrie Pourvahidi, deputy director of the rail authority. ``Cost-wise and construction-wise they weren't feasible.''

Currently, the stations closest to the valley still under consideration are two locations in Sylmar, one in the Antelope Valley, two in Burbank and three in downtown Los Angeles.

The rail line is in the early planning stages and isn't expected to operate for perhaps 20 years. Funding remains the biggest question.

Santa Clarita city officials have reviewed the rail authority's environmental report and acknowledge that the proposed sites for stations would have had significant environmental repercussions.

``With the data they've compiled to date, we understand their reasoning for eliminating the stations, but we'll continue to work with them to find a station that will work within the valley,'' said Mark Yamarone, the city's capital planning and programming administrator.

The city does plan to send a letter to the rail authority asking members to consider a Santa Clarita site in the next phase of the environmental review.

``We don't want to demand a station because we want to clearly understand the environmental impact of those stations, but we're hoping they will perhaps identify another more suitable location along the alignment,'' Yamarone said.

Meanwhile, the city staff will consider linking Santa Clarita with Sylmar - the closest proposed station.

``If that's the best place to locate the station, and it will have significantly less environmental impacts on the valley, when it happens, we'll look at transit options to link the city to that station,'' Yamarone said. ``The ultimate goal is to provide a convenient connection to the system.''

The rail authority is still considering the two proposed routes for the system - one from Los Angeles that heads north along the Antelope Valley (14) Freeway and a second that would follow the Golden State (5) Freeway through the western Santa Clarita Valley, then north over the Grapevine.

Stations were proposed at the junction of the I-5 and state Highway 126, near the I-5 and Magic Mountain Parkway, along The Old Road in Newhall, on Via Princessa near Highway 14 and near San Fernando Road and Highway 14.

They were found unsuitable for a number of reasons including their proximity to the freeways, which would mean costly tunnels or other construction or because of nearby forest land.

The authority will conduct detailed technical studies throughout the year, and will release its preliminary draft of the environmental impact report by June 2003.

The draft will be followed by a public review, and a final report will be released in December 2003.

The 670-mile high-speed rail line proposed to run through the Antelope Valley and the eastern Santa Clarita Valley is expected to cost at least $23.3 billion. It would travel at speeds up to 220 mph, and a trip from Los Angeles to San Francisco is expected to take less than three hours.