The California High-Speed Rail Commission board will likely
decide to rescind the environmental process for the Pacheco Pass
route on Thursday, and an advocacy group predicts the board will
chuck the Pacheco Pass route entirely.
The California High-Speed Rail Commission board will likely decide to rescind the environmental process for the Pacheco Pass route on Thursday, and an advocacy group predicts the board will chuck the Pacheco Pass route entirely.
The Sacramento-based California Rail Foundation, one of several groups that sued the rail commission over the Pacheco Pass Route, says the environmental process for that route would be more daunting the second time around.
“This time the people of Gilroy and Morgan Hill know that trains are coming through town at 220 mph,” said Richard Tolmach, president of the California Rail Foundation.
A resolution that will be discussed on Thursday specifically calls for the commission to maintain a Pacheco Pass route while rescinding the environmental impact report for the route. However, Tolmach maintained that a Pacheco Pass alternative would be unpalatable at this point after Sacramento Superior Court Judge Michael Kenny ruled in August that portions of the environmental impact report for the Bay Area-to-Central-Valley route would need to be rewritten.
Tolmach noted that the rail authority must find a new route between San Jose and Gilroy because the court found that a route identified by the authority had inadequate space for tracks.
In addition, Wolmach said that several cities that anticipated trains going through their towns at 100 to 150 mph during the initial environmental review process now know that they will be traveling at 220 mph.
Officials with the California High-Speed Rail Commission could not be reached for comment late Wednesday.
