Fresno Bee Logo

Fresno high-speed rail routes might change | The Fresno Bee

×
  • E-edition
    • Customer Service
    • About Us
    • Contact Us
    • FAQ
    • Advertise
    • Place Classified Ad
    • Display Advertising
    • Stay Connected
    • Mobile & Apps
    • Facebook
    • Twitter
    • E-mail
    • RSS Feeds
    • Archives
    • Activate Digital Subscription
    • Manage Account
    • Newsletters

    • News
    • Local
    • Crime
    • Weather
    • Education
    • Marijuana
    • California
    • Nation/World
    • Databases
    • Special Reports
    • Obituaries
    • Sports
    • High Schools
    • Outdoors
    • Grizzlies
    • MLB
    • NBA
    • NFL
    • College
    • Columnists
    • David White
    • Politics
    • Elections
    • The California Influencer Series
    • Political Notebook
    • Fresno State Bulldogs
    • Football
    • Basketball
    • Entertainment
    • Calendar
    • Movies
    • Movie Times
    • Music
    • TV
    • Theater & Arts
    • Comics
    • Puzzles & Games
    • Dine Out
    • Peoples Choice
    • Blogs & Columnists
    • Beehive
    • Rory Appleton
    • Joshua Tehee
    • Living
    • Food & Drink
    • Calendar
    • Religion
    • Horoscopes
    • Blogs & Columnists
    • Beehive
    • Bethany Clough
    • Carmen George
    • Fresno Famous
    • Ask Amy
    • Business
    • Agriculture
    • Personal Finance
    • Technology
    • Mortgage Rates
    • Blogs
    • BoNhia Lee
    • Opinion
    • Editorials
    • Letters
    • Influencers Opinion
    • Valley Voices
    • Other Opinions
    • Submit a Letter
    • Columnists
    • Armen Bacon
    • Victor Davis Hanson
    • David "Mas" Masumoto
    • Marek Warszawski
    • Today's Obituaries
    • Place an Obituary
  • CV Magazine
  • Peoples Choice Awards
  • Best of Clovis
    • Today's Hot Deal
    • Today's Circulars
    • Classifieds
    • Auctions/Estate Sales
    • Garage Sales
    • Real Estate
    • New Homes Map
    • Jobs
    • Automotive
    • Merchandise
    • Pets
    • Legal Notices
    • Service Directory
    • Classified
    • Open House Weekend
    • Real Estate Marketplace

    • Jobs
    • Fresno Bee Jobs
  • Moonlighting
  • Cars
    • Search Real Estate
    • New Homes Map
  • Mobile & Apps

High-Speed Rail

Fresno high-speed rail routes might change

By Tim Sheehan / The Fresno Bee

    ORDER REPRINT →

May 03, 2011 11:10 PM

Substantial changes may be coming Thursday on the proposed route for high-speed trains through Fresno as the state seeks to save tens of millions of dollars in construction costs.

Engineers will ask the California High-Speed Rail Authority board to remove two route options from consideration through the city, change miles of elevated tracks on the remaining route to a ground-level line, and study an alternative site for a downtown station.

A portion of the line may also be trenched to run high-speed tracks under a highway and a freight rail line.

The board's decision will point the way for the ongoing environmental review of route options on what is planned as the first stretch of high-speed tracks.

Sign Up and Save

Get six months of free digital access to The Fresno Bee

SUBSCRIBE WITH GOOGLE

#ReadLocal

The authority hopes to begin building the 120-mile stretch from Fresno to Bakersfield in 2012 -- the initial piece of a planned 800-mile system connecting California's major cities.

The recommended revisions for the Fresno-Bakersfield section, as well as between Merced and Fresno, come after months of what the authority calls "value engineering."

"The authority is looking at what they believed were going to be the really high-cost sections of this construction section," said Bart Bohn, a former Fresno County chief administrator who is now a program manager for URS Corp., a consultant on the Fresno-Bakersfield line.

A question of cost

The authority estimates the cost to build the system from San Francisco to Los Angeles at about $43 billion.

But others, including the group Californians Advocating Responsible Rail Design, suggest that the price will be much higher -- perhaps as much as $65 billion or more.

"I think it's an acknowledgment of how far over budget they were," said Elizabeth Alexis, a CARRD representative from Palo Alto. "But why weren't they looking at lower-cost options two years ago?"

Authority leaders said such alternatives were considered earlier but ruled out because of potential environmental effects on homes, businesses, agriculture and wildlife.

Now engineers are weighing the cost of managing, rather than avoiding, those effects.

Because the environmental assessments are incomplete and engineering designs are only about 15% done, officials say it's premature to estimate how much money the new alternatives could save if they are adopted.

The federal government has committed about $3 billion for building the first section in the Valley.

The state plans to match that money with about $2.5 billion from Proposition 1A, a bond measure approved by California voters in 2008.

"Initially, the alignment from Fresno to Bakersfield would include 45 miles of elevated structures," Bohn told a Caltrans/Amtrak California advisory committee in Fresno last week. "That's a huge cost."

Depending on which options are chosen by the authority after an environmental review this year or in early 2012, that could be whittled to as little as 15 miles of elevated tracks, Bohn said.

Down to earth

In Fresno, instead of miles of track soaring 60 feet above the city, Bohn said the only aerial tracks would cross the San Joaquin River at the Fresno-Madera county line and cross over Highway 99 near Calwa.

The rest of the route, just west of the Union Pacific Railroad freight tracks along Golden State Boulevard and Highway 99, would be at ground level with overpasses to carry major streets over the line.

North of downtown Fresno, a 11/2-mile trench would take the high-speed line underground to go beneath Highway 180 and avoid severing the existing San Joaquin Valley Railroad freight line.

Two route options would be taken off the table for future study: one on the east side of the Union Pacific rail line, and one that crosses from the west side of the Union Pacific line to the east side in central Fresno.

Engineers also want to study an alternate site for a downtown passenger station for high-speed trains.

A site at Mariposa Street, between Fresno and Tulare streets, would be evaluated along with an earlier alternative at Kern Street near the Chukchansi Park stadium.

A station at either site would be at ground level, rather than elevated as had been proposed.

In Merced, proposed changes include eliminating aerial tracks in favor of an at-grade line and downtown station.

A new alternative also is being proposed for study on the line that would connect the Valley portion of the line near Chowchilla to Gilroy and San Jose.

Authority officials say the route -- which would run near Highway 152, Avenue 24 and Avenue 21 in western Madera County -- was developed to address concerns about the effects of the tracks on agriculture and business.

Related stories from Fresno Bee

HOMEPAGE

Revisions to Fresno high-speed rail route

May 03, 2011 02:03 PM

  Comments  

Videos

Gov. Gavin Newsom: ‘Let’s level about the high-speed rail’

Neighbors voice concern over homeless encampment in Fresno

View More Video

Trending Stories

Pedestrian dies after dashing into major Fresno street. Teen driver tried to swerve

February 15, 2019 10:15 PM

Want to work at the new Hyatt Place hotel in Fresno? Here are details of the upcoming job fair

February 15, 2019 07:00 AM

Storm warnings: Hail and rain in Valley, snow in Sierra mountains, funnel cloud

February 15, 2019 01:22 PM

‘Love is in the air’ as at-risk shelter dogs take flight from Fresno for new homes

February 14, 2019 12:07 PM

Video shows car and possibly the mother involved with baby abandoned in Madera County

February 15, 2019 04:42 PM

Read Next

Bullet train carried promise of a more prosperous Fresno. Those hopes have been derailed
Video media Created with Sketch.

Marek Warszawski

Bullet train carried promise of a more prosperous Fresno. Those hopes have been derailed

By Marek Warszawski

    ORDER REPRINT →

February 13, 2019 12:26 PM

After pulling the brakes on the bullet train, Gov. Gavin Newsom owes San Joaquin Valley residents a fuller explanation of how a truncated segment will help us gain “a fair share of our state’s prosperity.”

KEEP READING

Sign Up and Save

#ReadLocal

Get six months of free digital access to The Fresno Bee

SUBSCRIBE WITH GOOGLE

MORE HIGH-SPEED RAIL

Newsom wants to see high-speed trains for Merced-Bakersfield, puts brakes on SF-LA vision

Local

Newsom wants to see high-speed trains for Merced-Bakersfield, puts brakes on SF-LA vision

February 12, 2019 12:13 PM
California’s bullet train is pumping billions into the Valley economy. So why is it so unpopular?

Big Valley

California’s bullet train is pumping billions into the Valley economy. So why is it so unpopular?

December 23, 2018 12:00 AM
Assemblyman calls for high-speed rail chair’s resignation, amid critical audit

High-Speed Rail

Assemblyman calls for high-speed rail chair’s resignation, amid critical audit

November 30, 2018 03:26 PM
Gas-tax repeal backers’ next target: high-speed rail

Local

Gas-tax repeal backers’ next target: high-speed rail

November 30, 2018 05:16 PM
He still believes in what high-speed rail can do for Fresno, but is starting to lose faith

Marek Warszawski

He still believes in what high-speed rail can do for Fresno, but is starting to lose faith

November 28, 2018 01:39 PM
High-speed rail gets a financial boost from California’s heaviest polluters

Local

High-speed rail gets a financial boost from California’s heaviest polluters

November 26, 2018 02:47 PM
Take Us With You

Real-time updates and all local stories you want right in the palm of your hand.

Icon for mobile apps

The Fresno Bee App

View Newsletters

Subscriptions
  • Start a Subscription
  • Customer Service
  • eEdition
  • Vacation Hold
  • Rewards
  • Pay Your Bill
Learn More
  • About Us
  • Contact Us
  • Newsletters
  • News in Education
  • Archives
Advertising
  • Advertising with the Bee
  • Place Classified Ads
  • Local Deals
Copyright
Privacy Policy
Terms of Service


Back to Story