By Eric Heinz
During Tuesday night’s City Council meeting, Mayor Chris Hamm and council members voted to collect more information regarding the Amtrak and MetroLink train stop that comes to the San Clemente Pier.
In recent weeks, people have been concerned about the future of the stop because of a notion from the mayor that confusion between the North Beach and the Pier Bowl stop has been an issue with visitors in the city.
Instead of completely scrapping the stop, Hamm said he would like to see the possibility of increasing stops along the San Clemente area, but the way in which tickets are administered needs to change. The kiosk at the Pier, he said, has been inaccurate in the past.
Following a study on the Pier station, council members said they intend to direct city staff to work with MetroLink and Amtrak to find some solutions to more uniform stops around San Clemente. MetroLink stops at both the Pier and North Beach but Amtrak only stops at San Clemente Pier. Ultimately, the Orange County Transportation Authority would have the final say over the dissolution or implementation of any stops in San Clemente.
Why on earth would the Mayor and the City Council consider completely “scrapping” the train stop because its “confusing” when a simple intelligent solution would be to improve the signage and the current systems? The Pier train depot is a vital hub for resident and visitor transportation! First the removal of the only local medical care facility.. Now the City is considering removing our vital public transportation? I thought San Clemente was trying to improve our infrastructure. Especially with the new developments. Doing this is taking steps backward and taking away from the community. The City of San Clemente needs to stop removing key elements of this city and start considering only improving our beautiful city!