High-speed rail proposal is viewed with concern

High-speed rail proposal is viewed with concern

High-speed rail proposal is viewed with concern

Issue Date: May 27, 2009

By Christine Souza
Assistant Editor


Visualization showing an option for grade separation at Shaw Avenue in Fresno. NC3D of Portland, Ore., is working with the California High Speed Rail Authority to provide visuals of the proposed high speed rail project.

As the state's High-Speed Rail Authority plans an 800-mile high-speed rail system that will help alleviate congestion on roadways and transport passengers from San Francisco to Los Angeles in a little over two and a half hours, California's agricultural landscape is likely to change dramatically.

An estimated 300 miles of the project is expected to go through the Central Valley—one of the most productive farming regions in the world.

"There has been a real concern by agriculture about the route that the California high-speed rail project ends up taking and how it is going to impact those properties, as well as properties adjacent to the proposed project corridor," said Andrea Fox, California Farm Bureau Federation governmental affairs legislative coordinator. "While the routes of the project are being planned, we cannot lose sight of the many benefits of California agriculture, not only to support the state and nation economically, but to feed people locally and around the world."

The train, which would travel at speeds of up to 220 miles per hour, was a major topic of discussion this month at the Great Valley Center's annual conference, entitled "20/20 Foresight, A View of the Great Valley in a Decade."

Quentin Kopp, chair of the California High-Speed Rail Authority and former state senator, addressed attendees about the project.

"California has been identified as having 38.2 million people, according to the State Department of Finance. The experts advise us that California high-speed rail is tantamount in terms of supplying a means of transportation to 50 million Californians by the year 2030," Kopp said.

After failing to pass a high-speed rail system on the statewide ballot in 2006, California voters approved a high-speed rail project last November with the passage of Proposition 1A that authorized $9.95 billion in general obligation bonds to fund the first phase of a planned multiphase high-speed rail network.

Kopp mentioned that $9 billion worth of bond funds will be directed to construction of the project and the remaining $950 million is for entities such as Bay Area Rapid Transit in the Bay Area to connect to the high-speed rail. Federal funds, including federal stimulus dollars, as well as other federal grants, have also been made available for high-speed rail projects nationwide. A few billion dollars more is expected to come from local, regional and even private sources, Kopp said. Total cost of the first phase of the project, which will include high-speed train lines from San Francisco to Anaheim, via the Central Valley and through Pacheco Pass, is estimated to be $45 billion.

The California High-Speed Rail Authority is tasked with completing final planning, design and environmental efforts. Construction efforts are projected to begin as soon as 2011.

The route that connects Los Angeles to San Francisco, via California's Central Valley, will be the first phase of the network.

"Three hundred miles of the project lie in the Central Valley and indeed is a critical part of the whole system," said Robert Schaevitz, vice president of Decision and Implementation Services with URS Corporation, the project manager for the Fresno-to-Palmdale section of the project. "The highest speeds on the system will be in the Central Valley where there is the least conflict with the difficult terrain except for a couple of important exceptions—Fresno and Bakersfield. We're working in the Central Valley to make sure that every mile that we can will have that 220 mph top speed."

An area between Merced and Madera counties is being looked at as the potential site of one of California high-speed rail's heavy maintenance facilities. Merced County Farm Bureau Executive Director Diana Westmoreland Pedrozo foresees this project as creating real problems for the future of agriculture in the Central Valley.

"Unless the state has some real land-use rules to be attached to this project, it will be a nightmare for agriculture," Pedrozo said. "So far, my local, regional and state governments have not given me any confidence in their ability to actually protect and preserve our ability to feed our future generations and ourselves. You are talking about the only place on earth that can do what we do."

Heading farther south, Schaevitz said, one of his biggest challenges is getting the project through Bakersfield.

"The existing railroad system there was laid out many years ago, so it is very, very tight. If we are going to keep our high speed going, we cannot stay with the freight rail lines," he said.

Matthew Park, executive director of the Kern County Farm Bureau, said the county Farm Bureau has been meeting with leaders of the project.

"Kern County Farm Bureau is at the table in the discussion with the project managers. Even just a rough diagram through the City of Bakersfield runs into all kinds of problems," Park said.

Park confirms that the high-speed rail project will likely change the look of agriculture in the county, but it is too early to know what acres will be impacted.

The leaders of the project held a series of public scoping meetings throughout the Central Valley communities including Merced, Madera, Fresno, Visalia and Bakersfield, in which 442 people registered. That process yielded over 150 written comments from the public.

Schaevitz has a long list of considerations when conducting environmental studies and one of them, he said, is the impact on agricultural land and the local economy. When weighing alignment options for this high-speed rail project, one consideration is to take as little prime agricultural land as possible, he said, but "in some limited cases the structure, for various reasons might actually be up in the air, and in other cases we might have to purchase a 50-foot right-of-way and take off corners of property."

"CFBF supports the concept of mass transit, but we must insist on protecting agricultural land and preventing urban sprawl. Because our success depends on a healthy environment, we are committed to solutions that work," Fox said. "Considering California's projected $21.3 billion budget deficit and the existing $100 billion bond indebtedness, coupled with the need for new water projects and improvements to existing transportation and other infrastructure, we are concerned about cost-effectiveness of this project."

For more information about the California High Speed Rail project, go to www.cahighspeedrail.ca.gov.

(Christine Souza is an assistant editor of Ag Alert. She may be contacted at csouza@cfbf.com.)

Permission for use is granted, however, credit must be made to the California Farm Bureau Federation when reprinting this item.