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In 2017, Shirley Higdon and her neighbor Diane Holmes realized the High Speed Rail train that had been endorsed by Californians a decade earlier might be running right through their quiet street close to U.S. 101.
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The two women, along with a small group of neighbors, took to Facebook and began organizing a larger coalition of Morgan Hill residents that opposed the state’s bullet train project. They called their group, “Stop HSR in its tracks—Morgan Hill.”
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A plan to run the High Speed Rail parallel to U.S. 101 is one of three alternatives proposed for the “San Jose to Merced project section.”
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The High Speed Rail Authority told Morgan Hill residents last week that it plans to select a final route for this section of the project and begin identifying property to acquire for right-of-way in Morgan Hill late next year.
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On Aug. 14, two meetings were held in the Morgan Hill City Council chambers, spearheaded by the Chamber of Commerce and led by the High Speed Rail Authority. Newly appointed Northern California Regional Director Boris Lipkin presented the authority’s 2018 business plan and new alternative for a “blended track” using existing Union Pacific Railway tracks through downtown Morgan Hill, along Depot Street. The meetings also served as a forum for community members.
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More meetings are planned later this year.
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California Regional Director Boris Lipkin identified three alternatives for the section of the rail line through Morgan Hill that will be part of an 84-mile line connecting San Jose and Merced.
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The first option is an embankment that would run parallel to the existing rail line. The second option is a viaduct, or raised platform, that would sit west of U.S. 101. The third alternative, known as the “blended pan,” is to utilize the Union Pacific Corridor and electrify the tracks that Caltrain would be able to use along with the High Speed Rail.
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With the blended plan, the train would slow to 110 mph in the Union Pacific Corridor, although it will be capable of going upwards of 200 mph.
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Lipkin explained that as the alternatives continue to be explored and a partnership with Union Pacific is worked out, plans for all three routes will be presented to the High Speed Rail Authority. The group is set to pick one preferred route in September 2019, but will then look at all the alternatives in December in a Draft Environmental Impact Report.
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November 2020 will see the final Environmental Impact Report, following the public review period, which will address mitigation plans for the prospected route.
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Following the selection of the plan, the Right of Way Authority, part of the High Speed Rail Authority that deals with property acquisition, will identify properties in the line of the bullet train. Notices are planned to go out after the alternative is chosen, as early as 2019.
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The Right of Way Parcel Acquisition Plan states, “Once properties are identified as necessary for the project, the authority issues the Notice of Decision to Appraise on parcels which are to be acquired.”
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It was the viaduct option that had first alarmed Hidgon, Holmes and their neighbors. They had originally envisioned the rail running up the middle of U.S. 101 or along Highway 5. While the blended plan appeased Hidgon, Holmes remains skeptical.
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While she thought the blended route would have the least impact on Morgan Hill neighborhoods, she’d wondered how the blended route is feasible.
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“It doesn’t make sense all the way around,” said Holmes.
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High Speed Rail in California dates back to Gov. Jerry Brown’s first time in office in the 1980s. After the passage of proposition 1A in the 2008 statewide election, the rail project gained the funding necessary to begin work.
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Construction in the Central Valley has already begun, with Fresno experiencing the full process of what will soon come to Morgan Hill.
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The line that runs through Morgan Hill and San Martin, with a stop in Gilroy, is part of the “valley-to-valley line,” which connects Silicon Valley and the Central Valley from San Francisco to Bakersfield. This segment of the plan includes a tunnel that will go through Pacheco Pass.
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Lipkin said that the goal is to complete the valley-to-valley line by 2029.
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The valley-to-valley line is only 80 percent funded, but Lipkin said the project has never been fully funded and that the High Speed Rail will not start any portion of the project it can’t complete.
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John Horner, president of the Morgan Hill Chamber of Commerce, attended a High Speed Rail meeting in Gilroy. After the meeting, he approached officials and asked them to visit Morgan Hill to present the plans.
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Horner thought it was important the authority have a community conversation, “beyond city officials.”
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The day of the meeting, Horner and Chamber of Commerce members took authority staff on a walking tour of Morgan Hill. Horner said the tour was an effort to help the HSR officials visualize where the theoretical rail lines would run.
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He acknowledged there was a feeling within the city that the rail line was inevitable, but maintains that community action has helped change positions and ideas within the authority.
“Our main concern is, OK we don’t get a stop,” said Horner. “But we’d like to minimize destruction.”
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Horner said community pressure from Morgan Hill residents to reap an immediate benefit from the rail line, despite not having a stop in the city, led to the blended track plan.
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While Horner acknowledged that concern over the blended track was valid and that the plan needs to be explored further, he said, “Maybe there’s a compromise. The tradeoffs are pretty extensive and complicated.”
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Lipkin echoed this sentiment, saying the authority records all comments and concerns made to them and takes them into consideration when selecting a route for the rail line.
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While Lipkin and others at the authority see the High Speed Rail as an ambitious infrastructure project, community members in the South Valley see it as an immediate hassle.
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As plans continue to move forward, residents are seeking transparency and answers. Horner said if new information comes to light, he hopes to set up another meeting with the authority and community sometime in November.
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More information on the High Speed Rail can be found in the 2018 business plan http://hsr.ca.gov/docs/about/business_plans/2018_BusinessPlan.pdf. Questions about the Chamber of Commerce’s work with the authority can be directed to in**@mo********.org.
