Link: Opponents seek to derail $45B bullet train - San Francisco Business Times:
Friday, August 21, 2009 | Modified: Wednesday, August 26, 2009, 1:01am PDT
Opponents seek to derail $45B bullet train
Cities sue to change planned 800-mile route
San Francisco Business Times - by Eric Young
Paolo Vescia
“I’m apoplectic over high-speed rail. They have this thing so wrong that’s it’s mind-bending,” says Cobb.
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California’s proposed bullet train has left the station at the federal and state level.
Now its biggest challenge is trying to get some neighborhoods on board.
The California High-Speed Rail Authority, the state-chartered body in charge of planning and building the $45 billion system, is locked in a dispute with cities along the Peninsula that could delay — or possibly upend — the ambitious project.
Menlo Park and Atherton joined a group of nonprofit transportation and planning groups in a lawsuit seeking to invalidate the environmental study — and the rail alignment through Santa Clara County’s Pacheco Pass — for the state’s bullet train.
A ruling on the suit, filed in Sacramento Superior Court, is expected by Aug. 27.
The lawsuit alleges the rail authority deliberately slanted an environmental study to lead the authority’s board into selecting a route through the Pacheco Pass instead of through the Altamont Pass in the East Bay.
“We were very disappointed in the environmental document that was ultimately produced,” said Menlo Park Mayor Heyward Robinson. “We felt we needed more meat on the bones.”
Other communities along the planned 800-mile bullet train route have expressed concern about noise and design, but so far none have filed suit.
Some observers question whether the plaintiffs will prevail. Even if the cities win in court, state lawmakers may still decide to push ahead, said Bruce Balshone, a principal at Pacific Resources Engineering and Planning, a land use and civil engineering firm. “This is something really significant to the state of California. I don’t know if the legislature is going to allow some little cities to stop a statewide project.”
Still, if a court ruling goes against the rail authority, it might be forced to complete another environmental study and reconsider the route. That could delay the start of construction, which is supposed to happen by 2012 or it could put at risk federal funds that are likely to be spent on the bullet train.
The battle over the rail route linking the Bay Area to the Central Valley has been waged for years. Altamont Pass backers said that route would attract more riders and allow bullet trains to serve long-distance commuters. Pacheco Pass supporters said that route would provide a more direct way from the Bay Area to Los Angeles, the route expected to provide 70 percent of revenue on the system.
The state’s high-speed rail program has received big boosts lately. In 2008, state voters approved almost $10 billion in bonds for the project. Earlier this year federal transportation officials said California is one of two states that are leading candidates to secure some of the $8 billion in stimulus cash for high-speed passenger-rail service. The rest of the money is expected to come from private investors.
“If we don’t stub our toes,” said high-speed rail board member Rod Diridon, “we’re due to receive a lion’s share of that stimulus money.”
The train project’s forward momentum, however, could turn on the outcome of the Peninsula lawsuit.
“I’m apoplectic over high-speed rail. They have this so wrong that it’s mind-bending,” said Mike Cobb, a longtime Palo Alto resident whose house is three blocks from the proposed route. Palo Alto submitted a legal brief supporting the lawsuit filed by Menlo Park and Atherton.
Cobb said running the bullet train down the Peninsula will lead to more headaches than benefits. He and other bullet train opponents said they expect that some people living near the line will lose their homes through eminent domain. Many others will have to live with the noise and vibration of the train, Cobb and others said.
Mehdi Morshed, the executive director of the high-speed rail authority, said both concerns are overblown.
Train technology and new rails mean that “there will be considerably less noise (with a bullet train) than there is now” with Caltrain, he said.
The authority has the power of eminent domain. But Morshed said it is unlikely it will be used.
“There are very few places where there is the need for additional right of way,” he said. “Based on what we know there will be very little or no residential taking.”
eyoung@bizjournals.com / (415) 288-4969
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