With brakes on high-speed rail project, let’s look at our options

Superior Court Judge Michael Kenney’s ruling in a lawsuit over
the environmental impact report prepared for the high-speed rail
system gives Gilroyans an opportunity to talk about what’s best for
the community.
 
Judge gives high-speed rail a time out

Superior Court Judge Michael Kenney’s ruling in a lawsuit over the environmental impact report prepared for the high-speed rail system gives Gilroyans an opportunity to talk about what’s best for the community. 

Kenney ruled last week that the EIR prepared by the California High Speed Rail was inadequate. He’s expected to issue another ruling that will specify the changes needed to fix the EIR.

Led by City Council, let’s take this opportunity to consider our options and their impact on our community – positive and negative. 

Location pros and cons

When the Gilroy stop for the high speed rail system was first proposed, the station was planned for downtown Gilroy. There’s a lot to be said for placing the train station in downtown Gilroy, not the least of which is its potential to boost stores and restaurants in the city’s center. But it’s important to understand the downsides of the options for a downtown train station.

It’s important to understand that the station that’s proposed for Gilroy will require two miles of 100-foot-wide clearance for tracks — one mile north of the station, one mile south of the station. This allows the trains enough distance for slowing as they approach the station, as well as another track so that express trains can pass trains stopped at the station.

Take a tape measure and look at what 100 feet is and ask yourself: Where in downtown Gilroy could that much track go? It’s likely that it would have to be elevated, visually cutting the city in half, or sunken in an open trench. Is that too high a price to pay for locating the train station downtown?

Let’s weigh our options

Another possibility is locating the train station east of Highway 101 – perhaps in the 660 near the outlets, perhaps near the shopping centers on Highway 152. There’s much more space there, but ?what would locating a train station there do to downtown Gilroy?

With appeals and negotiations, it’s likely that Kenney’s ruling gives us a breather of several months to a few years. Let’s not waste this opportunity to make sure that if a high-speed rail stop comes to Gilroy, we’ll make it the best it can be for our community.