In the summer of 2008, the high speed rail bond proposal was altered in order to address criticisms some project supporters had about possible sprawl in the west side of the San Joaquin Valley. AB 3034, the bill that became Prop 1A and was approved by voters that fall, specifically ruled out any station location [...]

The big HSR news in California this week was the decision of the Bakersfield planning department to rescind its recommendation of the “Blue Line” option for HSR, even though it had a lesser impact on the community than the “Red Line,” due to overblown concerns about the impact on Bakersfield High School. Hundreds of current [...]

A few weeks back I told the story of my high school in Orange County, which was in the path of the Interstate 5 widening project in the late 1980s and early 1990s. The freeway was widened and a large concrete structure, complete with soundwalls, was erected right next to the campus, which lost a [...]

Although the San Francisco-San José Alternatives Analysis dominated the news this week, the CHSRA board discussed a draft AA for another segment – Merced to Fresno. Two alignments were eliminated, and two will be carried forward for further study. The two that were eliminated (follow along on page 4 of this document for a map [...]