It appears by all accounts that a high-speed train will be
coming through or past Morgan Hill at some point in the future, and
that train should not come through the downtown on an elevated
berm.
It appears by all accounts that a high-speed train will be coming through or past Morgan Hill at some point in the future, and that train should not come through the downtown on an elevated berm.
Termed the “at-grade” alignment by California High-Speed Rail Authority consultants who presented the new possible route at a local community meeting last month, the alignment brings the total number of options for the train as it passes from Morgan Hill to Gilroy to four.
The decision to add the fourth option was done at the request of Morgan Hill city council members, who asked the HSRA to consider the more terrestrial option instead of a 35-foot-high elevated structure that some said would create an undesirable visual impact and split the town.
The at-grade alignment would require the construction of an earthen and concrete berm all the way through town, HSRA consultants said. The berm would be about 15 feet above ground, and major roadway intersections would be grade-separated, most likely with the roads crossing underneath the tracks.
The other two of the four proposed alignments through Morgan Hill would send the 200-mph trains through the area adjacent to or east of U.S. 101, and the other two would bring the trains through the towns next to the Union Pacific tracks.
“Having an aerial structure cutting into the views we have would cut the downtown in half,” Councilman Rich Constantine said. “If we’re going to have high-speed rail coming through Morgan Hill, then an at-grade (alignment) parallel to the Union Pacific line would be the least obtrusive to Morgan Hill.”
But if the idea of a 35-foot elevated track gives pause, the idea of a 15-foot berm should frighten even the most strident of supporters. At least an elevated track would provide some view. A berm would essentially build the “Great Mini-Wall” of Morgan Hill, if not physically then at least symbolically cutting the city in half. Perhaps it could be on a berm from Gilroy through San Martin to just south of Morgan Hill, then elevate it through the city before putting it back on a berm north of town as it makes its way north to San Jose.
The four alignment alternatives and other issues such as noise and the number of trains coming through are the subject of the ongoing environmental study of the system, which is expected to be completed by 2012, and shortly after that the board of directors will specify which alignment will be built.
Now is the time to speak up.
Do not build the tracks on a berm through downtown Morgan Hill.
