HomeMy WebLinkAbout18858 - RESOLUTIONS - 7/3/1996 RESOLUTION NO. 18858
OF THE CITY COUNCIL OF THE CITY OF PALM
SPRINGS, CALIFORNIA, ENDORSING AND St➢P-
PORTING THE CONCEPT OF IMPLEMENTING
REASONABLY CONVENIENT PASSENGER SERVICE
FROM LOS ANGELES TO THE COACHELLA VALLEY
THROUGH THE EXTENSION AREA SO THAT AN
ALTERNATIVE MODE OF SURFACE TRANSPORTATION
MAY BE PROVIDED TO MEMBERS OF THE PUBLIC IN
BOTH COMMUNITIES.
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WHEREAS, the City of Palm Springs has broken ground with respect to the construction of a
$2.2 million intermodal railway station near the intersection of Interstate#10 and Indian Canyon
Way in Palm Springs; and
WHEREAS, the primary purpose of said station will be to provide am arrival and departure point
for railway passengers traveling between Los Angeles and the Coachella Valley; and
WHEREAS, reasonably convenient passenger service currently exists between Los Angeles and
the City of Riverside, but not between Riverside and the Coachella Valley; and
WHEREAS, in order to extend passenger service from Riverside to the Coachella Valley '
("Extension Area"), additional track use rights must be granted! by Union Pacific Railroad
Company ("UP") and/or Southern Pacific Rail Corporation ("SP"); and
WHEREAS, representatives of SP have previously indicated that existing track capacity leaves
no room for passenger service along the Extension Area; and
WHEREAS, UP and SP have filed applications with the Surface Transportation Board for
approval of a merger of the two companies; and
WHEREAS, in connection with said merger applications, UP and SP have represented that if
the merger is approved, more than $95 million will be spent for a second track on SP's Sunset
Limited Route, which includes the Extension Area; and
WHEREAS, said merger applications have been reviewed by the California Public Utilities
Commission ("CPUC"), and the CPUC has filed a Brief with the Surface Transportation Board
which (a) endorses the concept of requesting UP/SP to cooperate with plans to implement
passenger service from Los Angeles to the Coachella Valley through the Extension Area, and
(b) states that the CPUC considers such request to be in California's public interest; and
WHEREAS, members of the public are critically concerned about problems associated with
traffic overloads on freeways and highways in Southern California; and '
WHEREAS, the projected opening of the "NAFTA corridor" between Mexicali and Los Angeles
early next year will greatly exacerbate such problems, particularly on Interstate Highway 10
which runs generally parallel to the Extension Area; and
7A .
WHEREAS, the provision of reasonably convenient passenger rail service from Los Angeles to
the Coachella Valley through the Extension Area would play an important role in reducing traffic
and related air quality problems along significant portions of the NAFTA corridor; and
' WHEREAS, the provision of such passenger service cannot be implemented without the
cooperation of UP/SP by, among other things, UP/SP constructing the additional track facilities
on the Sunset Limited Route, as represented, and granting, to an appropriate authority such as
the Riverside County Transportation Commission ("RCTC"), track rights along the Extension
Area portion of that Route; and
WHEREAS, the Surface Transportation Board has broad authority to impose upon the UP/SP
merger such conditions as it finds are in the public interest; and
WHEREAS, the implementation of reasonably convenient passenger rail service through the
Extension Area would be in the substantial public interest;
NOW, THEREFORE, BE IT RESOLVED that the City Council of the City of Palm Springs:
1. Endorses and supports the concept of implementing reasonably convenient passenger
service from Los Angeles to the Coachella Valley through the Extension Area so that an
alternative mode of surface transportation may be provided to members of the public in both
communities; and
2. Joins in the request that the Surface Transportation Board approve the UP/SP merger,
subject to the following conditions:
(a) that UP/SP be required to construct the second track on the'Sunset Limited
Route, as represented, so that existing impediments to joint freight rail and passenger rail may
be overcome; and
(b) that UP/SP be required to cooperate in implementing reasonably convenient
passenger service between Los Angeles and the Coachella Valley through the Extension Area
by, among other things, granting, to an appropriate authority such as the RCTC, track use rights
along the Extension Area.
ADOPTED THIS 3rd DAY OF July 1996.
AYES: Members Barnes, Hodges, Oden, Spurgin and Mayor Kleindienst
NOES: None
ABSENT: None
ATTEST: CI OF , ALM SPRIN ALIFORNIA
By
City Clerk City Yanager
REVIEWED & APPROVED: