High-speed rail could either be boon or bane for downtown
Gilroy
By Sara Suddes
Pinnacle staff writer
If
”
done right,
”
a bullet train station in Gilroy could turn the downtown into a
bustling transportation hub, city and staff officials say.
If done wrong, Gilroy could be home to an unsightly
”
monstrosity
”
running right through historical downtown.
California’s $40 billion bullet train, which would carry
passengers from Sacramento to San Diego at speeds of 200 mph, is
coming to Gilroy whether the community wants it or not, city staff
and officials said.
High-speed rail could either be boon or bane for downtown Gilroy
By Sara Suddes
Pinnacle staff writer
If “done right,” a bullet train station in Gilroy could turn the downtown into a bustling transportation hub, city and staff officials say.
If done wrong, Gilroy could be home to an unsightly “monstrosity” running right through historical downtown.
California’s $40 billion bullet train, which would carry passengers from Sacramento to San Diego at speeds of 200 mph, is coming to Gilroy whether the community wants it or not, city staff and officials said.
Yet, plans for the project range from a 28-foot elevated platform running over Gilroy’s downtown to an underground, trenched configuration, and the various configurations would create radically different effects, said Councilman Perry Woodward.
In one plan, four tracks would run three stories above downtown, Woodward said.
The 100-foot wide structure would run for about a mile in each direction north and south of the current Caltrain station at Eighth and Monterey streets.
The high-speed tracks would run east of the current railroad tracks, owned by Union Pacific Railroad.
“(This) configuration is troubling,” Woodward said. “There’s a lot of private property that would be impacted. With that in mind, the council is trying to get the high-speed rail folks to come up with a better plan.”
Sharing the bullet train’s station with the existing Caltrain station spurs new problems as the high-speed rail cannot legally cross over the existing Union Pacific tracks, local transportation attorney Joe Thompson pointed out.
“UP won’t allow the bullet train on, over or under its tracks,” he wrote in an e-mail. “Without UP’s consent, the (high speed rail) cannot build.”
In addition, the California High-Speed Rail Authority would have to work with Valley Transportation Authority – which owns the Caltrain station – to create an agreement, Woodward said.
Another alignment would take the tracks east of U.S. 101, with a station between Leavesley and Gilman roads to the east of Kaiser Permanente and the Gilroy Premium Outlets.
Though the rail authority held multiple scoping meetings throughout the state with residents and city councils, “one important part that people are missing is that the council has no say at all,” Woodward said.
“This is not a council-level decision. This is being imposed on us and we’re trying to make the best of it. All we’re trying to do is work with them, talk to them, petition them to be thoughtful of what they do in our community.”
That said, the council has requested the rail authority look at new options, such as running the tracks underground through downtown.
“The big issue is who’s going to pay for it to be trenched,” Woodward said. “It’s far too expensive for Gilroy to take on that burden.”
Though City Administrator Tom Haglund could not pinpoint Gilroy’s share of the cost, “we’re easily talking millions,” Woodward said. “But at this point, I don’t think anyone knows.”
While Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger joined federal, state and local officials Friday to outline California’s bid for more than $4.7 billion in federal stimulus funding for the construction of the high-speed rail, California did not include the section of track running from San Jose to Merced on the project list, according to a press release from the rail authority.
Despite all the possible problems, the rail could be a boon for Gilroy. As the only stop between San Jose and Merced, Gilroy could become a hub, drawing riders from San Luis Obispo to Capitola, Woodward said.
“My personal preference is to have it downtown at the existing train station as long as it’s done in a way that’s not overly disruptive,” he said. “If we have to have a huge monstrosity with a 100-foot wide track running downtown, it’s not worth it.”
Haglund, downtown business owners and residents agreed.
“The idea of having a train station in Gilroy holds with it the potential for a lot of economic promise, but there are still a lot of details we’re going to have to learn about,” Haglund said.
Issues like noise and safety, suggested Diana Chavez, 40, a resident of Freeman Court in north Gilroy whose friend was struck and killed by a train in Morgan Hill two years ago.
“The high speed – I don’t think it’s a good idea,” she said.
Lewis Street resident Maricela Cisneros, 37, said she was also concerned about safety, considering her four children and their home’s proximity to the proposed tracks.
“It might be a good idea putting it up on a track or in a trench,” she said.
OD’s Kitchen owner Bryan O’Donoghue said having a train run behind his Martin Street restaurant “wouldn’t bother me at all.”
“I’d have a problem if I lived here,” he said over the din of clinking silverware, patrons’ chatter and sizzling bacon. “But I think it would be dangerous if it came any faster than 30 mph through town.
What if it derails? If it went underground – yeah I can see it plowing through at 200 mph.”
The $40 billion rail project’s proposed route runs from Sacramento to San Diego, with arms branching off to San Francisco and Anaheim.
The project is funded in part by $9.9 billion in bonds California voters approved in November.
The rail authority expects a trip from San Francisco to Los Angeles to take 2 hours and 38 minutes, and cost $55.
