Countywide : Vasquez Asks Study of Rail Possibilities

Supervisor Gaddi H. Vasquez on Monday called for a countywide inventory of rail projects and proposed a feasibility study to outline the prospects for a commuter rail system linking areas of the Saddleback Valley to Irvine and Mission Viejo.

Those proposals, made in a letter to his colleagues on the board, will come before the supervisors today, and Vasquez said he believes that it could pave the way for a system that will serve fast-growing communities such as Rancho Santa Margarita.

“It’s a strategic time right now--those communities are still developing,” the supervisor said Monday. “This gives us a tremendous opportunity to give those people an alternative to the freeways.”

Under Vasquez’s proposal, which is expected to win approval easily, the supervisors would direct the Environmental Management Agency to prepare an inventory of various rail systems being planned in the county. EMA would be asked to return with its findings in 60 days.

In addition, the agency would be directed to work with the cities of Irvine and Mission Viejo to examine the feasibility of creating a rail corridor that would link those areas to the new developments.