High-Speed Train Avoids Detour

The California High Speed Rail Authority board announced Thursday that a Los Angeles-to-San Francisco high-speed train would run north to Bakersfield through the Antelope Valley cities of Palmdale and Lancaster, and not along an alternate proposed route near the Grapevine.

The eight-member board decided unanimously in favor of the original route, which represents a victory for Antelope Valley cities, whose leaders have argued that a route along the Golden State Freeway would devastate the Antelope Valley economy and businesses, all of which have made significant investments based on the Rail Authority's 2005 selected route through the valley.

In addition, Thursday's board meeting also saw a significant alteration of staff at the Authority, which has struggled to defend the rail project amid growing criticism about the $98.5 billion price tag and construction strategy.

Roelof van Ark, Rail Authority CEO, announced that he would resign in 60 days, and board Chair Thomas Umberg announced that he would step down from his leadership position on the board after an election next month to choose a new chair.

Umberg cited a lack of time for the chair duties.

"We've come quite a distance and we still have quite a distance to go," Umberg said. "The chairmanship is really a full time job, it requires daily attention, if not hourly attention."

Umberg nominated board member Dan Richard to become the new president.

Assemblywoman Bonnie Lowenthal, D-Long Beach, welcomed the board change, which she attributed to Governor Jerry Brown.

"I want to welcome this new infusion of talent willing to take on this unprecedented project," Lowenthal said.

Palmdale City Councilman Steve Hofbauer called the board's selection of the Antelope Valley alignment "absolutely huge."

Hofbauer said the decision will give commercial and industrial businesses the reassurance they need to ramp up investments near a new multi- modal transit hub in Palmdale. DesertXpress Enterprises, LLC is considering whether to extend its planned high-speed rail from Las Vegas to Victorville into Palmdale.

The decision also gives the city leverage in negotiations with Los Angeles World Airports to lease land for a regional airport in the area, Hofbauer said.

"It's like opening up the 14 freeway. It's the next big connection," he said.

A study of the Grapevine route concluded that the Antelope Valley corridor would have fewer environmental impact and higher ridership, according to the CHSRA staff.

County Supervisor Michael Antonovich, whose district includes part of the Antelope Valley, applauded the decision, saying it will create a "vital transportation crossroads for the southern portion of the state."

Antonovich, who is also serves on the board of the Los Angeles County Metropolitan Transportation Authority, is pushing for upgrades to the Metrolink and Amtrak rail lines that would allow trains to travel at 110 mph. Antonovich and others argue the upgrade would enable a connection to the 130-mile first phase of the high speed rail system in the Central Valley and reach Los Angeles faster than building a whole new set of tracks.

"This hybrid system can be built using less money, in less time, and with greater benefits for the 60 percent of Californians who reside in the state's southern counties," Antonovich said.

The recommendation comes as the overall viability of the rail project is in question. After a November report found the price tag had more than doubled to $98.5 billion, an independent state review panel opined last week that the project "is not financially feasible." The panel recommended against the state issuing bonds to pay for the project. The project currently has about $13 billion in commitments from a 2008 state ballot initiative and federal funding.

"The project is on schedule," Rail Authority Press Secretary Rachel Wall said. "We are on schedule to start construction in September 2012 in Fresno."

A handful of union construction workers held a news conference before the Rail Authority's board meeting call for expediting the project.

Mark Kyle, director of government affairs for Operating Engineers Local 3 said concerns about the price tag for the project are overblown.

"We're not talking about spending $98 billion today or the next year, two or three years. We're talking about spending it over 20, 25, 30 years," Kyle said. "We're going to have 50 million people here here (in California) in 20 years. We can either have an F-grade transportation system and all be stuck in gridlock, or we can move forward with a green alternative."

--with reports from City News Service