Yesterday’s Merced Sun-Star ran an op-ed from Central Valley Congressman Dennis Cardoza on high speed rail. In addition to rallying the public to support the project, he also weighed in on some important issues about the project planning in the Merced area.

First, the big picture:

Both locally and statewide, we are lagging behind as the rest of the nation marches forward toward economic recovery.

Our state and region can continue to fall behind, or we can do what we have always done: Step forward, embrace the challenge and turn it into a victory.

California’s high-speed rail offers such an opportunity. In addition to providing badly needed jobs, building a high-speed train system in California will reduce traffic congestion and air emissions and will also connect the Valley to the other major urban centers of the state.

Cardoza is right – California’s economic recovery will lag, perhaps for decades, if high speed rail is not part of the solution. But before we can start building HSR, we have to agree on the route.

These discussions usually do not have easy answers. As we see in Bakersfield, even the least intrusive routes sometimes involve tough tradeoffs. Does the route go through a city, potentially impacting residents? Or does it go around a city, impacting farmers?

Cardoza argues the route should have the least amount of impact on farmers. He endorses the A-2 route between Merced and Fresno, which follows the Union Pacific right of way:

Making the high-speed train a reality will require our region to come together in support of a common goal.

Specifically, the northern San Joaquin Valley must unite in support of the high-speed rail route that makes the most sense for our region.

We must also mutually support Merced’s application for the High-Speed Rail’s Heavy Maintenance Facility at Castle Commerce Center (the former Castle Air Force Base). If selected, it could bring up to 1,500 jobs to the region.

Last year, the state was awarded $2.34 billion from the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act for the rail system’s development and construction. These funds will be used in conjunction with the $9 billion in state bonds that the voters approved in 2008.

To access these funds and the jobs that come with building high-speed rail will take a joint effort.

Currently, the California High Speed Rail Authority is analyzing two routes for the Merced-to-Fresno portion of the system: the A-1 alignment, which runs along the BNSF railroad corridor, and the A-2 alignment, which runs along the Highway 99/Union Pacific transportation corridor.

It is imperative that our region support the A-2 route. This will have the least impact on residential and agricultural land uses, as well as providing the fastest travel time between Merced and Fresno.

By contrast, A-1 would cause substantial impacts to Merced County’s agricultural resources, running through the unincorporated communities of Planada and Le Grand. The proposed route would cut up farms, residences and businesses, including agricultural processing and packaging facilities.

A-1 also poses impacts to vernal pools and endangered species, and will result in a protracted and contentious environmental permit process. This in turn risks the loss of federal funding. Wasting taxpayer funds on such a fruitless endeavor just doesn’t make sense.

Supporting the A-2 route ensures the least amount of agricultural and environmental disruption.

Cardoza appears to be siding with Merced over Madera on this one. As Californians For High Speed Rail’s Daniel Krause explained on the blog last week there is a rift between Merced officials, which support A-2, and Madera officials, who support A-1. Krause also proposed a hybrid solution between A-1 and A-2, using A-2/UPRR north of the wye (between Merced and Madera) and A-1 south of the wye.

Cardoza’s suppor for A-2 raises another key issue – Union Pacific’s hostility to HSR. As a member of Congress, Cardoza is in a position to do something about it. A-2 would require Union Pacific to drop its opposition to HSR. Only Congress has the authority to regulate these federally-chartered railroads. Cardoza, as a moderate Democrat, could play a key role in forcing UPRR to be more accommodating.

In addition to backing A-2, Cardoza also called for the Valley to unite around the Castle Airport location for the maintenance hub:

In addition to supporting the A-2 route, the Northern San Joaquin Valley must come together in support of the former Castle Air Force Base as the site of the High Speed Rail’s Heavy Maintenance Facility. The site is one of a handful of possible locations being considered for the assembly and maintenance of the trains.

The Castle Commerce Center already has most of the needed infrastructure and environmental clearances.

With immediate access to road, rail and air transport, Castle is conveniently positioned to serve as a multi-modal transportation hub. This infrastructure will allow cargo and goods to be moved with ease, saving both time and money.

Castle is a “win-win,” saving money for the state and bringing a projected 1,500 permanent, full-time positions to the region.

I’m neutral on the location of the maintenance hub, but Cardoza does make some strong statements in support of Castle. Ultimately, as a member of Congress, Cardoza has power here as well. If he wants HSR to be built, including the maintenance hub, he’ll need to rally his fellow moderate Democrats to support funding HSR in the transportation bill later this year.