Earthquake: The Long Road Back : Navy’s Help Sought for New Train Station : Transportation: Regional Rail Authority has formally asked Seabees to build the Metrolink project in Camarillo.

Regional transportation officials have asked thS. Navy Seabees to build a proposed Camarillo Metrolink station and begin construction as soon as next week, one of the county’s top transit officials said Thursday.

The Southern California Regional Rail Authority, which runs Metrolink trains to downtown Los Angeles, formally asked the Navy on Wednesday to help with the emergency construction project to relieve traffic on the region’s quake-damaged freeways.

“The Seabees are amazing,” said Mary Travis, manager of transit systems for the Ventura County Transportation Commission. “I understand they actually constructed one of the stations in 48 hours from the ground up.”

But a spokeswoman at the Naval Construction Battalion Center in Port Hueneme said local Seabee officials have not received any request for a construction job in Camarillo. But she noted that Port Hueneme-based Naval Construction Battalion Center 40 is building a similar Metrolink project near Palmdale.

Travis said Metrolink officials have already designed an emergency commuter train station to be built near Lewis Road and Ventura Boulevard. Using a similar layout at other emergency Metrolink stations built since the Jan. 17 quake, construction could be complete in as little as two weeks, she said.

Under normal, non-emergency conditions, Metrolink stations take between four and six months to complete, officials said.

“It’s unfortunate that it took an earthquake to make this happen, but we’re excited that with a station, we’ll finally start being able to get people out of their cars,” said Dan Greeley, Camarillo’s director of engineering services. “It’s my understanding that work could begin as early as next week.”

Greeley said plans for the no-frills station called for grading and striping a vacant lot adjacent to the tracks for about 240 cars, and installing lighting and a passenger drop-off zone off the facility’s main driveway.

Extension of Metrolink service into Camarillo will be considered by a subcommittee of the Regional Rail Authority during a meeting today in Los Angeles, Travis said.

If it is approved, the Ventura County Transportation Commission would release between $250,000 and $500,000 to pay for construction costs at the proposed station. Development of the Camarillo station and a possible 12-mile extension to the Oxnard Transportation Center is sought to ease post-earthquake congestion on the Simi Valley and Ventura freeways.

“We will be talking prices with the committee and seeking assurances that we will be getting federal disaster fund reimbursement, but I think we’re all agreed that Camarillo is a go,” Travis said.

She added that the possibility of extending Metrolink service into Oxnard will also be discussed during today’s meeting with rail officials.

“It’s on the agenda,” Travis said. “It’s a logical extension. The track from Camarillo is straight and fast into Oxnard.”

Camarillo officials applauded news that construction on the station would start soon.

Councilwoman Charlotte Craven said that once built, the interim station may well become a permanent fixture in the city.

“There’s nothing so permanent as a temporary building in government parlance,” Craven said. “This is going to be a welcome addition to our city.”

Councilman Michael Morgan, who himself rides Metrolink several days a week to his job in Los Angeles, said the train may be another way for Camarillo residents to explore downtown Los Angeles.

“There are a lot of really neat galleries and restaurants there that I think our residents would enjoy visiting,” Morgan said. “With the free shuttles that are waiting there, people can get around down there without any hassles at all.”

Peter Hidalgo, a Metrolink spokesman, said ridership from Ventura County’s existing stations in Moorpark and Simi Valley is up 30% over normal, pre-quake conditions.

“More and more commuters are for the first time seeing the possibilities of taking the train,” Hidalgo said. “It’s a trend that’s benefiting everyone.”

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