Bullet trains could thunder through tunnels under Henry Coe
state Park or over Pacheco Pass instead of the Altamont Pass to the
north, if a state commission listens to the Santa Clara County
Board of Supervisors.
Bullet trains could thunder through tunnels under Henry Coe state Park or over Pacheco Pass instead of the Altamont Pass to the north, if a state commission listens to the Santa Clara County Board of Supervisors. The Morgan Hill City Council, however, wants the Pacheco Pass route.
At a Wednesday City Council meeting, the council voted 5-0 to oppose any thought of a Coe Park route, with or without promises not to harm the environment. Councilman Steve Tate was emphatic.
“We should do everything possible to make it stay away from Henry Coe,” Tate said.
The council was split over whether to encourage a stop in Morgan Hill or Gilroy. The thought of 86 high-speed trains a day roaring through town gave them pause, with only Mayor Dennis Kennedy preferring a Morgan Hill stop.
“A Morgan Hill station could be built without impacts,” Kennedy said.
The supervisors decided Tuesday, in a 3-2 vote, to support a proposed high-speed rail line from the Central Valley to Santa Clara Valley through a southern route, either Pacheco Pass (152 between Gilroy and Highway 5) or through a series of tunnels under Henry W. Coe State Park. The route, to connect Los Angeles with the Bay Area, will continue on to San Jose, San Francisco and Oakland splitting into two lines.
Supervisor Don Gage, who represents the South Valley area, is against running the train through the park, preferring the Pacheco route, according to Edwin Chan, a Gage spokesman. Gage did vote for the resolution.
A third route, through Altamont Pass (Highway 580 through Dublin, Livermore to Tracy) was not backed because it would require three rail lines, one to San Jose, one to Oakland and a third to San Francisco, the board’s resolution said. The route would also have required an expensive new bridge across San Francisco Bay and caused significant environmental problems.
The board’s resolution asked that the route have no adverse effects on the wilderness environment or wildlife in Coe park, having heard objections from the Committee for Green Foothills.
The resolution did not address the difference in expense between drilling 31 miles of tunnels under Coe Park and building a bridge or the difference in cost between eliminating the environmental effects in the park and in the bay.
The southern routes were chosen because they offered more revenue from more riders and would cost less in the long run. Supporting the resolution with Gage were Supervisors Beall and McHugh. Supervisors Alvarado and Kniss opposed it.
The intent of the resolution, Chan said, was to come out against the Altamont route. An advisory action, the resolution will be sent to the California High-Speed Rail Authority.
Public comment will be taken by the Board of Supervisors until the end of August.
Details: www.sccgov.org/agenda/home or Supervisor Gage, 299-3273.
