Grand Canyon Rail Plan Put on Hold

Thursday, January 11th 2001, 12:00 am

By: News On 6

PHOENIX (AP) â€” Nearly everyone agrees that Grand Canyon traffic congestion must be reduced, but the gridlock likely won't end anytime soon now that plans for a $100 million light rail system have been put on hold.

The plan called for an 8.5-mile rail line to carry tourists to the park's South Rim, where up to 6,000 drivers compete for 2,400 parking spaces on busy summer days. The proposal was approved by the National Park Service in 1997 and scheduled to be put out for bid last November.

But Rep. John Shadegg and Sen. Jon Kyl, both Arizona Republicans, put the brakes on the bidding in favor of more study. Shadegg said buses should be considered again, arguing the decision for the rail plan was based on inflated visitor projections and outdated technology.

``If we build a fixed rail system and it costs too much and the price to the Grand Canyon doubles, you are going to restrict the ability of the average person to go to the park,'' Shadegg said.

Park Service officials say the rail line isn't dead. But they also say expanding bus service for park visitors wouldn't be difficult because they already explored that alternative, before rejecting it in favor of the rail line.

Under the plan approved by the Park Service, visitors would be required to leave their cars in a parking lot just outside the south entrance of the park. There, they would board trains capable of carrying 4,200 passengers an hour for an 8 1/2 -minute ride to the information plaza, near the rim's edge.

Kyl and Shadegg put the plan on hold by including a rider on an appropriations bill last fall that ties the Park Service's hands in pursuing the rail line until at least June 1.

Some rail supporters believe the new bus study is meant to kill the train. A train would reduce the number of vehicles in the park and be a more effective way of transporting visitors, said Rob Smith, southwestern representative for the Sierra Club.

``This sounds more like a political reassessment than a real research study,'' he said.

The earliest a light rail line could now begin operating is the summer of 2005, said Brad Traver, who oversees the park's transit plan.

``We can't guarantee anything, but probably a bus system could be implemented more quickly,'' Traver said. ``How quickly? It's hard to tell.''

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On the Net:

Grand Canyon National Park: http://www.thecanyon.com/nps