'Maglev' train study moving ahead
By: MARK WALKER - Staff Writer | ∞
Congressman Bob Filner's pitch for a magnetic levitation train linking San Diego with a new regional airport in Imperial County is about to get on a fast track.
On Friday, the transportation committee of the San Diego Association of Governments is expected to authorize hiring an engineering firm to conduct a study of Filner's idea, a study that must be completed within the next six months.
Filner, a San Diego Democrat whose district includes Imperial County, has been championing construction of a dual-runway regional airport at an unspecified location off Interstate 8 just east of the San Diego County border with Imperial County.
The San Diego County Regional Airport Authority has that desert site, along with one each in Campo and Borrego Springs, on its list of possible new airport locations. The only other civilian site being considered is Lindbergh Field, the downtown San Diego airport constrained by having only one runway and limited room for expansion.
The authority also has five military sites on its list, but agreed earlier this year not to discuss those until a base realignment and closure process was completed. This is expected by November.
None of the military sites ---- Camp Pendleton, north of Oceanside, Coronado's North Island Naval Air Station, two at Miamar Marine Corps Air Station and March Air Reserve Base east of Temecula ---- is expected to get serious consideration. None of those bases is slated for closure, and a joint-use airport at a base also is considered unlikely because of resistance from the military.
Filner, a member of the House transportation committee, said Monday it was incumbent on the airport authority to wait for the "maglev" study before eliminating any new airport site from its list.
"The authority has the responsibility to study this and they need to figure out how to get it done," said Filner, who secured $800,000 for the study in a five-year transportation bill approved by Congress earlier this summer. "Even if I didn't get the money, they should still be doing this."
The association of governments, which serves as the transportation planning and funding center for the county, also wants to study north-south levitation and conventional rail corridors that would run parallel to Interstates 5 and 15. That portion of the work could come after the Imperial work.
The airport authority has said it wants to have a recommendation in place by April to allow sufficient time to explain its recommendation to county voters. The state law that established the agency requires a countywide vote on a new airport site or Lindbergh expansion in November 2006.
Lindbergh is the nation's busiest single-runway airport. The 614-acre airfield is forecast to be out of room to handle increases in passenger and cargo demand by as soon as 2015.
The Imperial County Board of Supervisors is all for an airport in its sparsely populated territory, seeing it as a catalyst for all kinds of economic development. Earlier this month, that panel placed an advisory question on this November's special election ballot, asking Imperial County residents to show their support.
Filner has said a magnetic levitation train could reach a desert airport in about 20 minutes. Passengers would check their baggage at the train station, climb aboard and be whisked to the airport aboard trains traveling in excess of 200 miles per hour.
Maglev trains use a magnetized coil along a track to repel magnets on the train's undercarriage, causing the train to rise. Once afloat, the train is propelled by magnetic fields that push and pull the train along the guideway.
Authority board member Mary Sessom, mayor of Lemon Grove, said Monday she had been assured by airport authority staffers that the maglev study can be factored in the analysis of an Imperial County site in time for the board's decision.
"It'll get done," Sessom said.
On a related front in the site selection process, a group representing business, military and others with a keen interest in the airport issue meets in San Diego this morning to hear a report on an Internet-based dialogue of county residents who considered new airport locations.
That meeting takes place from 9 to 11 a.m. at the Sheraton San Diego Hotel and Marina, 1590 Harbor Island Drive.
Contact staff writer Mark Walker at (760) 740-3529 or mlwalker@nctimes.com.
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Rodney wrote on Jan 2, 2006 5:08 PM:The SANDAG serves as the main transportation-planning group that has been considering a proposed maglev high-speed train to help solve our regions transportation needs with support from Congressman Bob Filner who serves on the Transportation Infrastructure Committee; and Mr. Sandor Shapery supporting a San Diego/L.A. Maglev project; which can be found on the web at www.sdlamaglev.org. SANDAG should be required to focus primarily on the recommended north-south alignment that would run parallel to Interstate 5 and 15 before spending any money on a study of a proposed alignment for a maglev high-speed train with his new airport, located in some remote part of Imperial County. That would cost taxpayers unknown billions of dollars to construct and to run, that would cause fears of environmental damage from pollution and would tax local resources including electricity, gas, and water. On the ballet for November should be a proposed proposition like “Would you support a public-private partnership to build a maglev high-speed train linking San Diego’s Lindbergh Field with airports in Orange, Los Angeles, and Riverside Counties into a multi-modal transportation solution. That would be five times faster, 50 percent less expensive to run, and many times quieter then conventional trains in use today.” We urgently need to begin the process of developing joint mayoral/congressional/private-sector partnerships that will allow San Diego to transform its transportation infrastructure by providing seamless connections between our trolleys, buses and envisioned high-speed trains linked to our regional airports providing Southern California with a fully integrated transportation system for the needs of the 21st century.
Einstein wrote on Nov 14, 2006 9:23 AM:Well, I must disagree with the verification of the Maglev study 2006. If it be taken by consideration it mustn't spend too much money because being a customer of what is known as the Jack in the Box franchise, you can get a Jumbo Jack for 99 cents.
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