$500K OK'd for passenger rail planning

APPLE VALLEY • A regional transportation authority is investing $500,000 more into environmental work for passenger rail along the planned High Desert Corridor.

The move is part of San Bernardino Associated Government’s effort to attract more investment for the project by demonstrating its value and potential as an innovative, “multi-faceted expressway of the future,” San Bernardino County 1st District Supervisor Brad Mitzelfelt said.

The High Desert Corridor, a 63-mile freeway that would link the Victor Valley with the Antelope Valley, has been undergoing environmental studies since late 2010. The six-lane expressway aims to relieve congestion and improve the flow of goods through the region by getting trucks off dangerous highways like the 138.

Now, the agencies involved want to plan for one day linking Victor Valley residents to the Los Angeles basin’s Metrolink system or future California High-Speed Rail station in Palmdale. More private and public investors are likely to be interested in the corridor if its plans accommodate features like rail, utility transmission lines and renewable energy projects, according to Mitzelfelt.

“The reality is that non-highway funding has been getting an increasing share of federal transportation dollars,” Mitzelfelt said. “In order to get funding for the High Desert Corridor, we have to show that it is a multi-modal, capable project.”

At Friday’s meeting of the San Bernardino Associated Governments’ Mountain/Desert Committee, board members approved $200,000 this fiscal year and $300,000 in 2012-13 toward environmental studies to add a passenger rail component to the corridor. The funds will come from the Victor Valley’s portion of the Measure I half-cent transportation sales tax.

There’s potential for both conventional passenger rail and high-speed rail along the corridor, Mitzelfelt said, with the high-speed DesertXpress train from Vegas to Victorville having secured Federal Railroad Administration approval and now seeking a $5.9 billion federal loan.

Adding passenger rail to the existing Interstate 15 through the Cajon Pass isn’t a viable option, Mitzelfelt noted, as the route is so steep and used by so many freight trains that passenger travel wouldn’t be efficient.

The cost of the High Desert Corridor is estimated at about $4.5 billion for the route stretching from Highway 14 in Palmdale to Interstate 15 in Victorvillle, and a total of $6.9 billion including its extension to Highway 18 near Lucerne Valley. Mitzelfelt said those estimates account for projected inflation over 20 years.

The Los Angeles Metropolitan Transportation Authority is also willing to pitch in for rail planning along the High Desert Corridor, SANBAG officials said, though it has not yet specified a specific amount.

Natasha Lindstrom may be reached at (760) 951-6232 or at NLindstrom@VVDailyPress.com.

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