>
> Tuesday, September 14th at 11:45 AM
>
> Ronit Bryant
>
> High Speed Rail Through Mountain View: a Study in Community
Engagement
>
> Ronit Bryant is Mayor of Mountain View and Chair of the High Speed
Rail
> Ad Hoc Subcommittee, which meets on an as needed basis regarding
> High-Speed Rail policy recommendations to the City Council and
regional
> High-Speed Rail issues. The Subcommittee is also tasked with
fostering a
> collaborative environment with the community during the design
phase.
>
> Since late last year, Mountain View residents and city officials
have
> been involved in a process managed by the California High Speed
Rail
> Authority called Context Sensitive Solutions, consisting of a
number of
> informational workshops to gather community input on design
> alternatives. In addition, the Council has held a study session to
> discuss design alternatives.
>
> Ronit will give an overview of the process and describe her
experience
> as a Subcommittee member actively participating in the process
over the
> past 9 months, including her feelings on the current design
alternatives
> available to the city.
>
Ronit began
by explaining that the High Speed Rail issue got real when voters
passed 1A, maybe four years ago now. The initiative specified that high
speed rail go from Anaheim to San Francisco, with only a few stops in
between. Since then the reality of the questions about how we do this
have been working their way through the process. At this point it looks
like the route will come over Pacheco Pass from Sacramento, stop in San
Jose, and then follow the Caltrain right of way up the peninsula to San
Francisco.
There is
likely to be a stop on the Peninsula, somewhere between Redwood City
and Mountain View. Such a stop would require 3,000 parking places and a
station capable of handling 15,000 visitors every day. After studying
the issue, our Mayor reports that Mtn View doesn't want a station here.
It would simply do too much damage to the downtown we all enjoy to add
that much parking and traffic.
Caltrain
right of way is wide enough in Mountain View to handle the additional
tracks. However, high speed rail requires that all roads be grade
separated from the tracks. This would require redoing the intersections
at Rengsdorf and Castro Streets. There are a number of ways to do this.
After study the best answer looks like putting high speed rail in a
covered trench, leaving the pedestrian and car access as it is now.
There are
other towns where the right of way isn't yet wide enough. Places like
Atherton, where the residents are very negative on having their back
yards shaved by a government taking.
Ronit sees
the coming of high speed rail as a great opportunity for all of the
cities on the peninsula to work together and make something happen. The
whole project will be a $43 Billion investment in California. She is
hopeful that there will be shovels in the ground working on it by 2012.
During Q&A the following came up:
One problem
is that the high speed rail authority seems to be dense and opaque, and
it's not at all clear how their decisions are being made.
280 is not a
good path for trains because it doesn't get very near the many
population centers on the peninsula. 101 is too curvy for trains to
follow that right of way.
Caltrain is
hoping to get electrified rail out of sharing the tracks. Electric
drive would make it possible for them to start and stop more quickly,
shaving minutes out of the schedules. They have no money to make the
project happen otherwise.
For more information please visit:
Tian Harter