South County residents at the Nov. 16 city council meeting displayed protest signs and delivered impassioned comments about their opposition to the California High Speed Rail Authority’s plans to bring a 200-mph-plus train through Morgan Hill.
The council and city staff wanted to gain additional input from the public to help in drafting a “scoping letter” to the HSRA in hopes of influencing the high-speed train’s ultimate alignment.
“Tonight we talk about the questions we want to put together in a letter to the High Speed Rail Authority, (so that) regardless of what alignment (HSRA) chooses, it addresses all the issues and concerns we have in this community,” Morgan Hill Economic Development Manager Edith Ramirez said.
These issues include potential impacts related to noise, safety, aesthetics and the effect on parks and recreation facilities, Ramirez added.
Those in attendance added their property values and equitable compensation for their properties, if they are in the path of the final HSR alignment, count among the concerns as well.
“Some of us are being asked to be devastated financially,” said Hesham Eassa, whose voice grew louder and hand gestures became more animated as he used his three-minute speaking allotment during the public hearing. “It is grossly unfair and it needs to be stopped.”
The imposing proximity of the HSR—with its potential noise, visual and construction impacts—to residents’ homes or neighborhoods could result in a long-term deflation of those property values, Eassa and others worry.
Some whose homes are in the right-of-way of an alignment, and are likely to be taken by the HSRA, were skeptical that they will receive fair compensation.
The council already had a long list of questions about the local impact before the meeting, which they plan to deliver to the HSRA and pursue answers before the authority decides on a preferred alignment through Morgan Hill in the spring of 2017. They gained more questions to add to the list from those who spoke at the Nov. 16 meeting, and others who submitted questions and comments on the city’s website.
The HSR will carry passengers between San Francisco and San Diego in less than three hours. Stations nearest to Morgan Hill are proposed in Gilroy and San Jose. HSR officials are currently considering four possible train alignments through Morgan Hill. These are:
• At grade, on a berm, along Monterey Road or adjacent (on the east side) of the Union Pacific Railroad tracks;
• Elevated, in a viaduct, along Monterey Road or adjacent (on the east side) of the UPRR;
• Elevated in a viaduct along the west side of U.S. 101;
• Elevated in a viaduct along the east side of U.S. 101.
The viaducts in the elevated options would rise 30 to 60 feet above the ground.
The nearest planned HSR stations are proposed in Gilroy and San Jose.
The city has no authority to tell the HSRA where to align the train, but Ramirez noted, “It is our intent to influence the project by asking these questions.”
The HSRA is building the rail system in sections, with Morgan Hill included in the “San Jose to Merced” section, which planners say will be operational by 2025. Crews have already begun construction on the HSR segment between Fresno and Bakersfield.
In response to comments from the audience Nov. 16, councilmembers hoped the HSRA would determine its plans for the rail stretch from Gilroy to Merced, which will require passage over or through Pacheco Pass on Highway 152.
“If you don’t even know how to get (over) Pacheco Pass, how do you know what you’re going to do here?” Mayor Steve Tate wondered. “We want to make sure we’re not doing things that are going to be a rail to nowhere.”
Councilman Larry Carr, who lives in downtown Morgan Hill directly in the path of at least one of the HSRA’s alignment alternatives, said the city should demand the authority study all four options when they start their environmental review next year.
“We do not want any of the options narrowed down,” Carr said. “We want all of them to be thoroughly reviewed and investigated.”
He added he wanted to “hear more about the possibility of a tunnel or trench option” through Morgan Hill, echoing another idea expressed by members of the public.
Some members of the Nov. 16 audience displayed signs that read “NO HSR,” and many applauded after hearing a comment they agreed with. Tate asked the crowd multiple times to hold their applause.
San Martin resident Connie Ludewig pleaded with the council to “include San Martin as being an advocate against HSR.” She said the train would physically divide the rural unincorporated community.
Another pervading concern among residents is the cost. The HSRA has estimated the total price for the entire train system is about $65 billion, to be financed from 2008 Proposition 1A bond funds as well as federal, state, local and private funds. The HSRA has not secured all these funds, and many critics think the authority’s estimate is unrealistically low.
A concern north of town is the HSR’s impact on the Charter School of Morgan Hill, located near Monterey Road and Bailey Avenue. Brian Sullivan, chair of the board of CSMH, told the council Nov. 16 that three of the four alignment alternatives would displace the school.
Carr responded, “We are going to have to be advocates for our schools, and that absolutely includes the Charter School.”
Staff and the council urged residents to visit the city’s website to continue to provide input on the HSR project. Visit morganhill.ca.gov and search for “High Speed Rail” to reach the section devoted to the project. The council’s draft list of questions to send to the HSRA is also found on this website.
