California High Speed Rail to Present L.A.-area Options

4:20 PM PDT on July 30, 2014

The California High Speed Rail Authority will hold a series of public meetings starting next week to discuss proposed alignments for two segments of the project: from Palmdale to Burbank and from Burbank to downtown Los Angeles.

Proposed alignments for HSR between Palmdale and Burbank. Yellow swath is proposed tunnel area. Graphic: CAHSR Authority — Proposed alignments for HSR between Palmdale and Burbank. The yellow swath shows the area where the proposed tunnel might go. Graphic: CAHSR Authority

Three routes have been proposed for the Palmdale to Burbank section: two of them vary slightly but both would follow the Highway 14 corridor through Santa Clarita and Canyon Country into the San Fernando Valley in Sylmar. A third alignment, proposed after residents of Santa Clarita and Acton complained about the Highway 14 route, would cut via tunnel directly through the San Gabriel Mountains, connecting more directly to Burbank.

The route proposed for Burbank to Los Angeles follows the existing Metrolink rail corridor, cutting between Glendale and downtown Los Angeles.

The purpose of the meetings is to inform the public and gather feedback before detailed analysis of each proposal is completed. Future analysis will compare the costs and feasibility of the various routes.

All of the meetings will be held from 5:30 to 7:30 pm.

The proposed route between Burbank and Los Angeles is less controversial. Graphic: CAHSR Authority.

Tuesday, August 5, Newhall: William S. Hart Regional Park, 24151 Newhall Ave.
Wednesday, August 6, Burbank: Buena Vista Branch Library, 300 N. Buena Vista St.
Thursday, August 7, Palmdale: Chimbole Cultural Center, 38350 Sierra Highway.
Monday, August 11, Acton: Acton-Agua Dulce Library, 33792 Crown Valley Road.
Tuesday, August 12, Sylmar: Sylmar Public Library, 14561 Polk St.
Thursday, August 14, Lake View Terrace: Lake View Terrace Recreation Center, 11075 Foothill Blvd.
Tuesday, August 19, Los Angeles: Union Station, Fred Harvey Room, 800 N. Alameda St.

Public comments will also be accepted until August 31.

Mail them to:

Mark A. McLoughlin, Director of Environmental Services ATTN: (Specify which Project Section)California High-Speed Rail Authority Southern California Regional Office700 N Alameda, Room 3-532 Los Angeles, CA 90012

Or send them by email (with “Palmdale to Burbank” or “Burbank to Los Angeles” in subject line) to:

Palmdale to Burbank: palmdale_burbank@hsr.ca.govBurbank to Los Angeles: burbank_los.angeles@hsr.ca.gov

Melanie Curry

Streetsblog California editor Melanie Curry has been thinking about transportation, and how to improve conditions for bicyclists, since her early days commuting by bike to UCLA long ago. She was Managing Editor at the East Bay Express, and edited Access Magazine for the University of California Transportation Center. She also earned her Masters in City Planning from UC Berkeley.