GilroyDispatch.com | Letters: Get ready for the bullet train's sonic blast out of the tunnel
Letters: Get ready for the bullet train's sonic blast out of the tunnel
11:17 AM
By The Community
Get ready for the bullet train's sonic blast out of the tunnel
Dear Editor,
After reading a recent letter in the Dispatch, I was alarmed and dismayed to learn that tunnels for Gilroy and Morgan Hill are part of the design for future high-speed trains. I doubt that Gilroy and Morgan Hill residents are aware that when high-speed trains emerge from tunnels, there is a very loud and dramatic sonic boom-like effect.
Such an earthquake-like blast several times a day will seriously degrade the quality of life for anyone within a few miles of the train tunnel exits. Anyone in Gilroy who can even barely hear the trains today had better tighten their windowpanes and be ready for the shock waves. I suggest local citizens take note of this and demand a full disclosure before this project is closed to modification. I assure you this will not be tolerated in any city to the north on the path of these trains.
Add to this another concern: Because this concept has been so long in coming, it is for a system that is outdated and soon to be replaced in Japan. Yes, 200-plus mph may seem fast to us, but those trains are being replaced by the new version, which is well over 300 mph which, of course, have slightly different rail bed requirements. Perhaps California can buy the discarded junkers from elsewhere in the world to build our system!
Odd that Americans will be impressed with the equivalent of propeller planes when the rest of the world is converting to the equivalent of jets.
We in South County will be again, where we were with U.S. 101 on the stretch between Morgan Hill and San Jose. When that was planned, it was well known to be an inadequate road on the day it opened. To bring it to where it should be years later, the ultimate cost of that road was triple what it could cost if properly designed from the beginning.
It would be great to hear an official response to these concerns, but it is very likely we will hear nothing, hoping that Gilroy and Morgan Hill citizens will be unaware until it is too late to remedy.
Tony Weiler, Gilroy
The main problem now: a lack of integrity in leaders - locally, too
Dear Editor,
Integrity: an innate character manifest by honesty, truth, incorruptible and able to stand firm in support of his principles against any challenges or ridicule by others.
There was an article in a recent Wall Street Journal titled " Global Crisis." It caught my eye.
In essence it said there are no national leaders in this world who are men of integrity, nor any men of integrity in our United States Government. The net effect is that if you encounter theft, corruption or injustice, to whom can you turn to for redress? No one, NONE! This lack of integrity is found at all levels of our government.
In Washington D.C. the president and his advisors all believe you can spend your way out of debt. They also believe you can lift yourself up by your own boot-straps.
We have a similar lack of integrity at our state level. The Regents at the University of California at Berkeley have salaries above $300,000 per annum. They recently gave themselves raises necessitating increasing the students' tuition fees so the Regents budget could be balanced.
At the local level (Gilroy) we see a number of employees at all levels of the administration have received compensation increases of 30 to 40 percent over the past few years. If you would better understand the soap box opera going on at City Hall, then look up the Gilroy Dispatch issue of April 21. The article lists the salaries of various employees so you get an idea as to where and to whom the taxpayers' largess is going. Favored employees get a nice raise, others less fortunate a "pink slip." With the economy depressed, one wonders just how long the Gilroy budget will remain in balance. Time will tell.
There is an axiom in logic that states, "If you start with a false premise then no matter how correct your reasoning, you can never reach truth." Applying that axiom to the global crisis and locally, we must recognize that until we have men of integrity as leaders, then no end of reform, bailouts, stimulants or earmarks will solve our problems.
How do we develop men of integrity? A step in the right direction might be to restore the Holy Bible in the public schools' classroom.
J. G. McCormack, Gilroy
Petition Amtrak to make Gilroy a 'Starlight' passenger stop
Dear Editor,
For many years, I attempted to generate interest and campaigned to restore passenger rail service to the Monterey Bay Area.
Currently, Amtrak's "Coast Starlight" train passes through downtown Gilroy twice a day on it's route from Seattle to Los Angeles and back. At times, this train is forced to stop in front of the depot as it has to await the arrival of the 7:30 p.m. Caltrain because of single track north of town.
Current regulations do not allow passengers to de-train from the Starlight. It would be prudent for city officials to petition Amtrak to include Gilroy as a station stop. This would enhance travel options, bring added business downtown as people would come from the surrounding area to board the train without the hassle of driving to San Jose or Salinas.
Gary V. Plomp, San Martin
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