“There’s only one word … about why they won’t admit the obvious and that they’re wrong: Unethical.”Ĭounty supervisors, led by Michael Antonovich and Sheila Kuehl, signed a letter to the rail authority opposing the E-2 above-ground Northeast Valley train “due to serious impacts to homes, quality of life and sensitive environmental areas in local communities.”Ī draft motion by Ratliff to the LAUSD board would oppose the E-2 train through horse country on grounds it would disrupt recreation near Hansen Dam, displace 100 residents and force 288 businesses to shut down. “There’s one word to describe a viaduct over the Big Tujunga Wash … to hold our community hostage,” said Dave DePinto, president of the Shadow Hills Property Association and a member of the SAFE coalition formed to fight the train. The one-hour protest included two dozen horses, a lamb and at least one goat. They say a decade of tunnel excavations could also require thousands of truck trips, exacerbating air pollution.Īt Wednesday’s protest outside a small high-speed rail community working group meeting at the Lake View Terrace Branch Library, protesters brandished signs saying “Save Big Tujunga Wash,” “Don’t destroy my horse arena” and “Don’t railroad us.” Critics say it would displace a Fed-Ex distribution warehouse.īut it’s the forest plan now known as Refined E-2 that has had residents of foothill horse communities - and a growing number of Los Angeles officials - snorting in opposition.Īfter popping out of a tunnel in Lake View Terrace, the train would soar over environmentally sensitive Big Tujunga Wash - while potentially frightening 3,000 local horses - before burrowing to re-emerge at Branford.Ĭritics say both mountain routes would destroy wetlands, disrupt water supplies, kill horse-related businesses and ruin an equestrian way of life in foothill communities from Lake View Terrace to Kagel Canyon, from Shadow Hills to Sunland-Tujunga. One such Angeles National Forest plan, now dubbed Refined E-1, would send the train underground around Hansen Dam before surfacing near Branford Street in Sun Valley. Other routes proposed along an East Corridor would send the trains under the San Gabriel Mountains through more than 20 miles of tunnels, to emerge in the Valley before pulling into a Burbank station. That plan, now known as the Refined SR14 alternative, was tweaked in the spring by the rail authority to avoid surface routes from Santa Clarita to Sun Valley, because of “social justice concerns.” One plan would have sent the train barreling down Highway 14 before looping through parts of Santa Clarita and into the Northeast Valley, disrupting hundreds of homes, businesses and a San Fernando police station, dividing working-class neighborhoods with 20-foot-high walls. The high-speed rail routes have evolved despite the studies. A preferred alternative is expected to be released in January or February. A draft is expected this spring, the final study by the end of 2017, Yee said. The three Burbank-to-Palmdale rail routes are now undergoing a state and federal environmental review. The California High-Speed Rail Authority will host three community open houses this month on Sept. 14 in Palmdale, Sept. 17 in Acton/Agua Dulce and Sept. We must be able to build this train safely.” We have to consider the environment and engineering. We will identify a preliminary early alternative early next year. “Environmental studies will evaluate all three possibilities. “At this point, there’s no one single reason to remove an entire alternative route from consideration. “We understand the concerns of the Los Angeles County supervisors, the SAFE coalition and the community,” said Adeline Yee, a spokeswoman for the California High-Speed Rail Authority. Local residents, members of a Save Angeles Forest for Everyone coalition and local officials have demanded that the Big Tujunga rail route be removed from a lengthy environmental study, but high-speed rail officials say it’ll roll through to the final draft.
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