Newest Metrolink Station Announced

A 2 1/2-acre lot near the corner of San Fernando Road and Olinda Street will be the site of the newest Metrolink station, officials announced Monday.

“This is great. A lot of people will benefit from this new station,” said James Okazaki, assistant general manager with the city Department of Transportation. “Nearby residents will benefit from living close to the rail. They would be able to leave their cars and reach other parts of the city.

“It’s all part of our goal to revitalize that area,” he said.

Transportation department officials will begin demolishing empty buildings, some of which date back to the 1920s, and unused parking lots later this month, Okazaki said.

The site is scheduled to be open for commuters by March 2001, he said.

The location will have space for about 300 cars, but it could be expanded, if necessary, he said. Once construction is completed, riders would be able to travel from Sun Valley to Burbank or downtown Los Angeles, he said.

“We expect a couple of hundred people to get out of their cars and use the train,” Okazaki said.

Los Angeles City Councilman Alex Padilla, state Sen. Richard Alarcon (D-Sylmar), representatives of the Sun Valley Chamber of Commerce and other officials visited the site in the 8350 block of San Fernando Road. The $3.6-million project is funded by the city and state, Okazaki said.

“We could not really ground-break it, because there was no soil, just a paved lot,” Okazaki said. “It was symbolic.”

Padilla told the crowd this is one of many new developments making their way to the northeast San Fernando Valley.

“We expect to have this station for the next couple of hundred years,” he said.