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Push for Metrolink station nearing end of line
Feb 07, 2012 (San Bernardino County Sun - McClatchy-Tribune Information Services via COMTEX) --
Time is running out on a 10-year campaign to bring a Metrolink station to the northern edge of Highgrove, several blocks south of Grand Terrace.
Faced with a Feb. 14 deadline for people to submit public comments to Southern California Associated Governments, R.A. "Barney" Barnett has accelerated his push to build support for the Metrolink station he wants built between Villa Street and Citrus Street in Highgrove, an unincorporated community in northern Riverside County.
The station would be on the same line as the Burlington Northern Santa Fe Rail Road.
"I know the roads, the people, the tracks and where they go and what they do," said Barnett, who publishes the monthly paper Highgrove Happenings with his wife, Ardie. "It's hard for me to sit idly by and just see some organization neglect what is apparent to everybody I know."
The organization Barnett referred to is the Riverside County Transportation Commission, which owns the property but said it has other plans.
"If we were to build a station there, it would be the least used station in Riverside County," said commission spokesman John Standiford. "Locating a station on the main line of the tracks there just a couple miles away from the main station (in downtown Riverside) presents a number of problems."
The commission plans to instead build a Metrolink station just a few blocks south of Citrus Street, on Marlborough Avenue, as part of a proposed line going to Perris. That plan is stalled because of environmental questions, but Standiford expects it to be open in early 2014.
Barnett's proposed site is surrounded by houses. By contrast, the Marlborough location is in a business district, Standiford said.
Over the last decade, nearby cities including Loma Linda and Grand Terrace have endorsed Barnett's plan.
"His argument makes sense," Grand Terrace Mayor Walt Stanckiewitz said Monday. "I'm not a transportation expert, engineer or anything, but when you walk the property and look at how the proposed U-turn is going to be there, it's like, this makes sense."
Building a station on Citrus Street makes more sense than Marlborough, and would open transportation options for Grand Terrace residents who would otherwise have to drive to San Bernardino or downtown Riverside, Stanckiewitz said.
Opposition from Riverside County Transportation Commission has led Barnett to push for support from Southern California Associated Governments, encouraging people to email amatya@scag.ca.gov and send a copy to highgrovenews@roadrunner.com.
But SCAG Transportation Director Rich Macias said his agency has no jurisdiction.
"We see this as a local issue, and it appears that the gentleman has dealt with the local transportation commisison on this issue," Macias said.
Reach Ryan via email, call him at 909-386-3916.
___ (c)2012 the San Bernardino County Sun (San Bernardino, Calif.) Visit the
San Bernardino County Sun (San Bernardino, Calif.) at www.sbsun.com Distributed
by MCT Information Services
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