East County Trolley Gets the Go-Ahead; Work to Start in ’86

The San Diego Trolley extension to El Cajon, slowed by monetary derailments, got back on track Thursday when U.S. officials approved an environmental report and released $37.4 million in federal funds to begin construction.

James Mills, chairman of the Metropolitan Transit Development Board--operator of the trolley--said the board will begin taking bids next month, with construction to begin in December. Completion of the 11-mile line, which will cost about $87.5 million, is expected in early 1989.

Ralph Stanley, head of the Urban Mass Transportation Administration, and Rep. Bill Lowery (R-San Diego), announced the release of the federal funds at a press conference held at the trolley terminal at Kettner Boulevard and C Street. Stanley said that the $37.4 million, which will be made available in about two weeks, will be followed by an additional $13.5 million in federal funds in 1987 and 1988.

UMTA approval of the funds was also contingent on a promise by MTDB officials that the trolley extension can be built without additional federal money. When plans for the line extension were drawn up, MTDB officials hoped for enough federal, state and local funding to build twin tracks. But now about half of the line will be a single track.

Stanley praised the San Diego congressional delegation and MTDB for persuading UMTA officials that the trolley merited the federal funds because of the board’s experience in operating a mass transit system.

“The final hurdle was cleared this morning, when the environmental report was approved. . . . We’ve talked ceaselessly over the last two years,� Stanley said, “but the funding is already in place. . . . Unlike Los Angeles, they’ve (MTDB) been very realistic about the expectation of federal funds and unlike Los Angeles, their experience (in operating the trolley) was definitely a factor in approving the funds.�

Mills responded: “We have enjoyed very much getting better acquainted with the people at UMTA. . . . It’s a delightful day for all of us on the MTDB.�

Mills said federal funding for the El Cajon extension of the Euclid Line had been held up for more than two years while MTDB worked on environmental reports required by UMTA. Lowery said that UMTA officials were initially skeptical of MTDB’s ridership projections, which hold that by the year 2000 the East County line will carry as many as 25,000 riders daily.

But MTDB spokeswoman Judy Leitner said federal officials accepted the projections when MTDB officials pointed out that the board’s projections are usually conservative. For example, Leitner said, before the South Line began operating, MTDB had projected a daily ridership of 9,000. But the line opened with an average ridership of 12,000.

MTDB analyst Tom Larwin said that about $51 million of the line’s $87.5-million cost will come from federal funds. About $26 million will come from state money and more than $10 million from local funds.

In July, trolley officials feared that the project was all but doomed when Gov. George Deukmejian vetoed $8 million in state funds earmarked for the project. But the project was salvaged when the California Transportation Commission made $2.7 million available for construction and an additional $3.8 million was set aside for completion of the line from state gasoline tax revenues.