Posted on 01/27/2005 6:50:23 PM PST by BenLurkin
SACRAMENTO - It's official; the Antelope Valley will have high-speed trains whizzing through it and stopping at a Palmdale station someday, if the $35 billion rail system actually is constructed. The state's High Speed Rail Authority board voted Wednesday on the rail line's route, which will include a section through the Antelope Valley on its way from Bakersfield to Los Angeles.
Palmdale officials have lobbied hard for the selection, citing the growing population of the Antelope Valley that would benefit with a quicker link to downtown Los Angeles and elsewhere.
"This is great news for the Antelope Valley," said John Brooks, a senior analyst for the city. "It was a unanimous decision, so we're real excited about that. The city has been working on this for six or seven years, and the authority has finally chosen the AV route as the preferred route. It's very exciting."
The decision wasn't a surprise, as the board indicated its preliminary decision to support the Valley route at a meeting in Los Angeles in September. The final vote was initially scheduled for mid-December, but was put off when too few board members to form a quorum attended that meeting, Brooks said.
The board's so-called preferred route would run down the Central Valley from Sacramento, through Palmdale to Los Angeles, then take an inland path through Riverside to San Diego. There also would be lines running to Irvine in Orange County and from the Central Valley to the Bay Area.
But the board agreed that more study was needed to find the best route to use between the Central Valley and the Bay Area.
The 200-mph rail system would take passengers from San Francisco to Los Angeles in about 2½ hours, but its future remains in jeopardy because of its big price tag.
A public vote on a $10 billion bond to start construction on the project was pushed back from November to 2006, and could be delayed again if the state's financial situation remains unstable.
Assuming the bond eventually is passed by the voters, finishing the first segment of the 700-mile rail line would take at least eight years, according to rail officials.
State Sen. George Runner, R-Lancaster, spoke at Wednesday's board meeting to thank the board for choosing the Valley alignment.
"With funding decisions, it's important to look beyond the fastest and cheapest (option), to what makes the best sense, and sometimes the government doesn't do that very well," Runner said. "I told them I was glad they did."
The Valley alignment will add about 10 minutes of travel time over a more direct route from Bakersfield to Los Angeles through the Grapevine. But Palmdale consultants presented convincing arguments that the Valley route would involve less tunneling and be safer, because it would pass through less earthquake-fault-ridden territory.
The rail authority's staff report recommends the Palmdale station be built near the Palmdale Airport and/or Palmdale Transportation Center, with nearby connections to the airport and Metrolink commuter rail service.
"This will have an equal impact that the freeway had in the Antelope Valley when it was punched through the mountains," Palmdale Mayor Jim Ledford said in September. "I think it brings you the (Palmdale Regional) airport and a 30-minute time line to downtown L.A. It's huge."
It would take less than a half-hour to reach downtown Los Angeles via the high-speed train, officials said.
"We are obviously pleased that high-speed rail will go through our Antelope Valley," said Tony Bell, spokesman for county Supervisor Michael D. Antonovich, whose district includes the Valley. "Being one of the fastest-growing areas in our region, it would only follow that the rail line would stop in the Antelope Valley."
The rail line is expected to have a positive impact on the Valley's economy, as well.
"I think it would be very, very positive," Los Angeles economist Jack Kyser has said. "People down below think the Antelope Valley is far away, but if we had high-speed rail, it would definitely be an economic boon for the area. … We'd have businesses saying they could relocate in the Antelope Valley, and then draw people coming on the high-speed rail."
The rail authority on Wednesday also decided to reconsider adding a stop in Visalia on the route between Fresno and Bakersfield.
State Sen. Roy Ashburn, who represents the Kern County portion of the Antelope Valley, spoke to the commission in favor of the Visalia stop.
"Considering the predicted growth rate, (Central) Valley residents need alternative transportation that connects the two major cities in the Central Valley," said Ashburn, R-Bakersfield. "The current roads are too congested and will not meet the transportation needs of the future."
The Associated Press contributed
It's kind of ironic that high speed trains are noteworthy for where they actually stop...
If the high speed trains stopped enough places to be useful, they could be low speed trains.
High speed milk runs.
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