Businesses Must Move or Remodel Due to Rail Plan

Not everyone is finding the arrival of Metrolink service in the Antelope Valley to be a convenience.

Actually, it’s become a downright inconvenience for a number of businesses located along the railroad tracks in Lancaster.

Metrolink is installing 10 miles of train track between Lancaster and Palmdale. As a result, as many as five businesses nestled near the route along Sierra Highway between Avenues J and K will be forced to relocate or to remodel substantially to increase their distances from the new $12-million track.

It is the first time since Metrolink service was initiated in late 1992 that mandatory relocation of businesses has been required, said Cecilia Melanson, acquisition and relocation manager for the Los Angeles County Metropolitan Transportation Authority.

But knowing that doesn’t make it any easier for owners of the affected businesses.

“They came in Tuesday and said it looks like we’re going to be moving and they’d get back to us,” said realtor Mark Troth, one of three owners of Troth Realtors, which has been in business at the same Sierra Highway location for 37 years.

Crazy Otto’s Diner, a landmark restaurant along the tracks, probably won’t have to move, but may have to close down for a short while for some major remodeling. Co-owner Scotty Tranter said he will have to chop off about three feet from portions of the diner so that the building will be the required 10 feet from the train tracks.

Metrolink service to the Antelope Valley began on an emergency basis a week after the Jan. 17 Northridge earthquake. Executive Director Richard Stanger said that the service will continue for at least a year and that if ridership warrants, it will be permanent.

The extension of the Santa Clarita line into the region had not been expected for at least a decade. But the collapse of a portion of the Antelope Valley Freeway during the quake temporarily left more than 40,000 commuters from the area without direct highway access to the San Fernando Valley.

“The plan was that eventually, and eventually means nobody really knew when, we would be providing service to the Antelope Valley,” said Metrolink’s Francisco Oaxaca.

But after the earthquake, MTA, which already owns rail line between Santa Clarita and Palmdale, brought the service as far north as Lancaster by using Southern Pacific’s freight track. Southern Pacific agreed to let Metrolink run commuter trains on the track for just 60 days.

Metrolink is now installing 10 miles of rail between the existing Southern Pacific track and Sierra Highway, within a 40-foot right-of-way corridor MTA purchased more than a year ago from Southern Pacific.

The unexpected Metrolink extension especially surprised the Sierra Highway business owners. Although they lease land on a month-to-month basis from the MTA, they said they thought it would be years before track would be installed.

Some of the owners question the need for continuing commuter train service in the Antelope Valley. Ridership, which soared to more than 20,000 daily after the line was extended, dropped to a low of 7,673 Wednesday, with only about 20% of the passengers boarding in Palmdale and Lancaster.

Tranter said he believes the service was extended only because the Federal Emergency Management Agency will pick up the bulk of the estimated $27.2-million tab. In addition to the new track, the MTA also is building temporary stations and making improvements in the existing track.

Meanwhile, business owners worry about what impact will be on their operations.

“We’ve been at the (Sierra Highway) location more than two years,” said Danny Levine, owner of All Valley Carpet & Upholstery Cleaning, which identifies itself as being next to Crazy Otto’s. “We specifically moved there because of the high visibility. . . . To try and get people to find us again, it’s going to be tough.”

While Crazy Otto’s can remodel, Levine has no choice but to move. “I’d love to stay right where we are,” he said. “Unfortunately, we’re going to have a railroad track running right through the bathroom.”