High Speed Rail Coordination - 1538

 To monitor high speed rail planning activities within the San Joaquin Valley to further the achievement of the goals, objectives and regulations of the Federal Transportation Act, in coordination and cooperation with regional and state transportation agencies.

Established in 1996, The California High-Speed Rail Authority (Authority) is the state entity responsible for planning, constructing, and operating a high-speed train system serving California's major metropolitan areas. The Authority has a nine-member policy board and a small core staff. All environmental, planning, and engineering work is performed by private firms under contract with the Authority.

The Authority has prepared a draft program-level Environmental Impact Report (EIR)/Environmental Impact Statement (EIS) for a 700-mile high-speed train system serving Sacramento, the San Francisco Bay Area, the Central Valley, Los Angeles, the Inland Empire, Orange County and San Diego. High-speed trains would be capable of maximum speed of at least 200 miles per hour with an expected trip time from San Francisco to Los Angeles in just under 2 hours and 30 minutes. The Authority is the lead state agency for the state EIR, and the Federal Railroad Administration (FRA) is the lead federal agency for the federal EIS.

At the September 2004 Authority meeting the Board gave their advisory approval - pending final analysis of public and agency comments - on the following:

• The alignment through Palmdale to connect Los Angeles to Bakersfield
• The alignment to Irvine to connect Los Angeles to San Diego via Orange County
• Undertaking additional studies to select an alignment connecting the Central Valley to the Bay Area
• Utilizing existing transportation networks to connect high-speed train to LAX

At the November 2004 Authority meeting staff unveiled recommendations on the following four remaining key route alignments within California's proposed high-speed train system:

• Connecting Sacramento to Bakersfield
• Connecting San Francisco to San Jose
• Connecting Oakland to San Jose
• Connecting Los Angeles to San Diego via the Inland Empire

The board gave advisory approval on the majority of routes discussed and directed staff to give further attention to the alignment between Fresno and Bakersfield. The advisory approval allows staff to continue to move the process forward and respond to public comments. In 2005, the Authority adopted the Final  Program EIR/EIS for the high-speed train system.

Next steps in 2007 for the proposed high-speed train system include:

• The Authority will contract consultants to prepare Project-specific Preliminary Engineering Design and Environmental for various segments:
   - Sacramento - Fresno
   - Fresno - Palmdale
   - Palmdale - Los Angeles
   - Los Angeles - San Diego
• The Authority will also be executing the contract for Project Manager Oversight.

The purpose of this element is to participate in the High Speed Rail Planning efforts as they pertain to Merced County.