Railroad Proposal Draws a Crowd

Hundreds of outraged San Juan Capistrano residents turned out Tuesday night for a public hearing on a proposal to dig a two-mile trench and add a second set of train tracks near the city’s historic downtown district.

It was the first opportunity that residents had to officially voice their displeasure over a controversial proposal to install a double-track along the coastline in southern Orange County. And speak out they did, nearly filling the city’s community center.

The trench is one of several ideas being studied by Caltrans for the Los Angeles-San Diego corridor as part of multibillion-dollar improvements to rail transportation statewide.

“I don’t think that my house will survive the construction or the ongoing operation,” said Stephen Rios, whose ancestors were among the original settlers and whose adobe was built in 1794. “As it is, the house rumbles and the beds move over time.”

Rios is also concerned that the project will harm Indian burial sites. “We don’t build roads through our contemporary cemeteries. Why would we build train tracks through historic Indian burials?”

In June, about three dozen residents strung garments on a 15-foot clothesline across tracks at the city’s old depot in a reenactment of an 1889 protest against the Santa Fe Railroad.

Earlier this year, overflow crowds turned up at two Caltrans public hearings in San Clemente to protest a plan to add a second set of tracks along the city’s beach.

The proposed trench through San Juan Capistrano would run from north of the city’s historic mission to Descanso Veterans Park. San Juan Capistrano residents and city officials worry that construction of such a tunnel would hurt business and tourism.

Some residents worry that the vibration from the added tracks would be disruptive and damage the town’s old structures, including the 226-year-old mission and original adobes in the Los Rios Historic District. Adding a second set of tracks also could force the demolition of a downtown parking structure and the historic train depot.

“They can’t just dig up the middle of San Juan Capistrano,” said Councilman John Gelff. “This not only impacts the historic district, but also the Villas [a Latino neighborhood] and a mobile home park.”

Business leaders, mission representatives and several elected county and city officials spoke emotionally in opposing the proposal.

“It was the railroad that brought prosperity to this area,” said Tom Bogdanski, who believes that his restaurant in the historic district could lose $2 million a year because of the proposed construction. “Don’t let this proposal be the golden spike that is driven into the heart of San Juan Capistrano.”

City officials are pushing two inland alternatives--one along the Foothill Transportation Corridor and the other along the Riverside Freeway and Interstate 15. Caltrans officials agreed Tuesday night to study several potential inland routes, including the two proposed by the city.

Caltrans is also considering a three-mile tunnel under Interstate 5. The tunnel would begin 1 1/2 miles north of downtown San Juan Capistrano and continue under the freeway. Another six-mile tunnel under Interstate 5 in San Clemente is being studied. Caltrans officials said tunnels cost from $80 million to $200 million a mile.