April 28, 2022
SAN JOSE (CALIF) The California High-Speed Rail Authority Board of Directors today certified and approved the Final Environmental Impact Report/Environmental Impression Statement (EIR/EIS), which covers the approximately 90-mile San Jose-Merced section. This clearance completes the environmental clearance for nearly 400m of the Phase 1 high-speed rail project 500-mile alignment from San Francisco to Los Angeles/Anaheim, including a contiguous stretch connecting Merced to Palmdale and Januarys clearance of Burbank to Los Angeles.
The Boards’ actions are the first to certify a project section environmental report in Northern California, and the first in San Francisco Bay Area.
Authority CEO Brian Kelly stated today that today’s approval marks another important milestone and brings us closer to delivering high speed rail between Silicon Valley (and the Central Valley). The Authority is well-positioned to realize the vision of high speed rail in the Bay Area. We look forward to continuing collaboration with our federal and state partners to help the project in Northern California.
This section will connect the existing Central Valley construction to San Joses Diridon Station. This will reduce travel times, and improve mobility in both regions. The high-speed rail will make it possible to travel from Fresno and San Jose in only one hour. It is three hours more than driving.
I am grateful, as are all of us in the City of San Jose, for the extraordinary work that’s now culminated in this environmental document reflecting thousands of hours of stakeholder outreach and an enormous amount of environmental analysis, said San Jose Mayor Sam Liccardo. The state’s completion of this crucial high-speed rail project is critical to achieving two important goals: economic opportunity and affordable housing.
The Boards approval of the project section and the San Jose to Merced FinalEIR/EIS certification is a crucial milestone that makes the section more shovel-ready for construction funding and preconstruction.
The Authority Board of Directors approved Alternative 4 as its preferred project alignment out of the four alternatives. This alternative electrifies and modernizes the existing rail corridor connecting San Jose and Gilroy, which will allow for high-speed rail service and Caltrain service.
Marie Blankley, Gilroy Mayor said Gilroy will be the next major transit hub on this stretch after San Jose. This is possible because the Gilroy Transit Center has everything in place.
East of Gilroy, the alignment consists of more than 15 mile of tunnels that run through the Pacheco Pass of the Diablo Range. This summer, the Board will examine certification for the final environmental report for the San Francisco-San Jose project section.
The Authority’s website has the Final EIR/EIS as well as Boards certifications and approval resolutions. www.hsr.ca.gov.
This approval was one of many actions taken by the Board during their two-day board meeting.
- The design of the four stations (Merced Fresno Kings-Tulare, Kings-Tulare, Bakersfield) was unanimously approved.
- Unanimously approved a multimillion dollar planning and funding agreement with the Los Angeles Metropolitan Transit Authority to modernize the historic LA Union Station by the Link Union Station (Link US). Union Station will serve as a major connector hub for California’s future high-speed rail service within the LA basin.
- Adopted the 2022 Business Plan.
California high-speed rail is currently being constructed along 119 miles of the Central Valley at 35 job sites. More than 7,500 construction jobs have been created to date since the construction began. More information on construction is available at: www.buildhsr.com.
The following link contains video, animations, photographs, press center resources, and the most recent renderings: https://hsra.box.com/s/vyvjv9hckwl1dk603ju15u07fdfir2q8. These files can all be used free of charge by the California High-Speed Rail Authority.
