New South County Metrolink Station Gets Funding OK

Orange County transit officials on Monday rescued plans for a Laguna Niguel/Mission Viejo Metrolink station, approving $2.5 million for the long-proposed facility.

City officials, who greeted the news with relief, said they will put revised plans for the facility out to bid this week and hope to have the station open late next summer.

“Without board action, the project probably would have died,” said Ken Montgomery, director of public works for Laguna Niguel. “It’s a red-letter day for us.”

The proposed station on Forbes Road near the junction of the San Joaquin Hills Transportation Corridor and Interstate 5 seemed on its deathbed this summer, when the lowest bid for the project came back $2 million over budget--nearly double the $2.75 million available. The only other bid received was $4 million over budget.

Even after revising plans to the bare bones, officials admitted they did not have enough money to build the station, which must include either a tunnel or pedestrian bridge to funnel passengers across the tracks.

City officials from Laguna Niguel and Mission Viejo discussed building half the station now and then waiting for more funding to become available. But that alternative was deemed impractical by county transit officials, who said the solution required spending $1 million on a train switching station that wouldn’t be needed if plans for a complete station were followed.

Last month, Supervisor Tom Wilson, chairman of the Orange County Transportation Authority board, asked transit staff to find a way to bail out the station.

The solution, approved unanimously at Monday’s transit board meeting, juggles federal and state transit funds to make up for the multimillion-dollar shortfall. Nearly $2 million of Measure M funds--the half-cent sales tax passed by county voters in 1990--was already earmarked for the station, with additional funds coming from the cities of Mission Viejo and Laguna Niguel.

“We’ve been working on this a long time,” said transit board member Susan Withrow, a Mission Viejo councilwoman. “I think it answers a critical need we have for service on the fastest-growing Metrolink line.”

About 5,300 people a day ride the commuter rail in Orange County, according to Metrolink spokesman Peter Hidalgo. Stations are in operation in San Clemente, San Juan Capistrano, Irvine, Santa Ana, Orange, Anaheim and Fullerton, and stations are planned for Tustin and Buena Park. The two stations closest to the Laguna Niguel site, Irvine and San Juan Capistrano, have parking lots that are regularly full on weekdays. A study done by the Orange County Transportation Authority earlier this year found that 40% of those boarding the train at Irvine came from South County. The new station will have 350 parking spaces.

But recognizing the need proved easier than finding affordable land for the station. An earlier site in Mission Viejo, just north of Oso Parkway, was deemed too expensive earlier this decade. As it turned out, that location would have been more affordable than the site officials now hope to start building on as soon as a contractor can be hired.

Officials said Monday they are just happy the station will finally become a reality.

“I’m delighted,” said Sherri Butterfield, mayor of Mission Viejo. “I think this is a key element in South County’s overall transportation picture.”

Also contributing to this report was Times correspondent Sean Kirwan.

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Station Funded

County transit officials Monday approved $2.5 million needed to rescue a long-proposed Metrolink station for Laguna Niguel and Mission Viejo.