Daily post 6-26-2008
Bullet trains loom for cities
But there's good news, too

If a $9.95 billion bond for a high-speed train system from Los Angeles to San Francisco is approved by voters in November, then a lot of Peninsula cities will be scrambling to figure out what to do about grade separations at railroad crossings.

Atherton has been the only California city to officially oppose the high-speed system. But some Menlo Park residents aren't sure they want either the trains or underpasses built to accommodate the trains, much less have any type of sound wall separating one part of town from another.

And Palo Alto is just beginning to talk about what to do with its four street-level crossings — Alma Avenue near the Stanford Shopping Center, Churchill Avenue, East Meadow Drive and Charleston Road.

Mountain View also will have quite a problem figuring out what would be an appropriate configuration for its street-level Castro Street crossing at one end of its busy downtown. It will have to be changed — somehow.

Knowing these communities, there's going to be a lot of argument and debate over the effect high-speed trains will have on their town.

Bond likely to pass
Early polling suggests the high-speed bond has support from 58 percent of Californians while 35 percent would oppose it, according to Rod Diridon of Santa Clara, who spearheaded the high-speed train system and is the govenor-appointed chair emeritus of the California High-Speed Rail Authority Board.

Locals would be overridden
I asked Diridon whether one or two local cities, like Atherton and Menlo Park, could stop a 400-plus mile high-speed train system in this state.

If the bond measure passes, the high-speed train system will override local objections, he said. The streets that cross the tracks will have to be lowered to accommodate the high-speed electric trains (similar to the underpass at the Oregon Expressway at Alma in Palo Alto). And the tracks would have sound walls on both sides.

That's bad news for a lot of local residents. The good news is the bond measure will pay for the grade separation work, Diridon said. And since this will be a general obligation bond, residents' taxes will not be raised, he added.

Big debates coming
Nevertheless, I see big debates and community divisions over the concept of lowering tree-lined streets at rail crossings to accommodate trains. Diridon said plans call only for road underpasses.

"It's going to elicit a huge response from people in Menlo Park, and already there are groups against it," said Mickie Wheat, a former Menlo Park mayor and council member.

Menlo Park Council member John Boyle said some Menlo residents favor the high-speed train and are willing to have the grade separations, since high-speed rail is environmentally beneficial and street-level crossing are unsafe. But others in town, he said, fear the sound wall will divide the community and damage the appearance of the affected streets and certainly don't want underpasses.

Kisiihnoto favors trains
Palo Alto Council member Yoriko Kishithoto favors the high-speed system, which she also called environmentally advantageous. The electric trains would save diesel fuel, be quieter and engineers would not have to blow the train's horn before every crossing. The council's Policy and Services Committee has discussed the concept briefly, she said, and sent it to the city's Planning and Transportation Commission, which will discuss the proposal this summer.

While I understand the concern of some residents, I don't think Peninsula cities are going to win this battle if the bond measure passes. So if I were on these councils, I would ask not what we should do to prevent the highspeed system from coming to this area, but if it is going to come, then what is the best outcome we could have for changing our street-level crossings? There may be options.

The benefits
And if I look at this train system in terms of statewide benefits, there are some attractive aspects to it. For one thing, the Los Angeles to San Francisco trip would cost $55 one-way, Diridon said. They tried to price it at half the cost of a normal airline fare between these two cities. A Fresno-to-San Jose one-way fare would cost $18.

The train would go approximately 220 mph, similar to many of the European high-speed trains, and it would take 2 hours and 36 minutes to make the trip from L.A.'s downtown to San Francisco's downtown.

We are years behind Europe, Japan and even China in highspeed train systems; it's time for California to lead the country.

Diana Diamond is associate editor of the Daily Post. Her email is Diana@DianaDiamond.com