County Commission OKs Study of Glendale Light-Rail Spur : Transit: The two-mile connector would link the L.A.-to-Pasadena line with the city’s Amtrak station.

The Los Angeles County Transportation Commission on Wednesday authorized a study of a proposed light-rail spur that would connect Glendale to the region’s burgeoning rail system.

The two-mile branch line would run south from the Glendale Amtrak station, connecting to the already authorized downtown-to-Pasadena light-rail line at Southern Pacific railroad’s Taylor Yard, south of Fletcher Drive.

It would be built in the Southern Pacific right of way that runs along Glendale’s western border. Both the Pasadena line and the Glendale spur would use the same cars and same size tracks as the Blue Line operating between downtown Los Angeles and Long Beach.

Although commissioners approved the $175,000 environmental study without dissent, several have emphasized that it does not guarantee that the two-mile connector would be built anytime soon.

The Glendale City Council, eager for the city to be connected to the countywide rail system under construction, has agreed to pay half the cost of the study.

The environmental impact report, which is expected to take eight months to prepare, will also consider whether to extend the spur an additional two miles along the right of way to Glendale’s Grand Central development area.

A preliminary study indicated that it would cost $132 million for the two-mile-long spur and an additional $56 million to extend the line two more miles.

Commissioners initially gave Glendale little hope of having rail

servicein the near future, but the city’s prospects improved with voter approval in November of a second half-cent sales tax increase for mass-transit improvements.

Also, in designing the Pasadena line, which is scheduled to begin operating in five years, planners gave Glendale a lift by selecting Taylor Yard as the line’s maintenance facility, thereby bringing tracks almost to Glendale’s southern border.

Although commissioners--who are being bombarded for requests for rail lines and spurs off planned lines--have steered clear of making promises until more studies are completed, commission Executive Director Neil Peterson called the Glendale line “quite an important one.”

He said that with growing commercial and industrial employment in Glendale, “there’s going to be a lot of demand to get to and from Glendale in the near future.”

In other action, commissioners voted to offer the owners of Sepulveda Drive-In $24.9 million for the 14-acre Van Nuys property, which would be used as a station and parking area along the route of the proposed Metro Rail subway extension from North Hollywood to Warner Center.

The property, owned by L & M Investment Co., had been slated for a commercial office development.