Environmental clearance complete for California high-speed rail project

With environmental clearance, the focus on the high-speed rail project is now on funding for design and construction of the remaining miles.

The California High-Speed Rail Authority (Authority) Board of Directors has certified the Final Environmental Impact Report/Environmental Impact Statement (Final EIR/EIS) and approved the approximately 43-mile project for the San Francisco-to-San Jose section.

This action completes the environmental clearance for high-speed rail in northern California and extends environmental clearance to 420 miles of the project’s 500-mile alignment from San Francisco to Los Angeles/Anaheim.

“With environmental studies completed in northern California, we are closer than ever to realizing a first-in-the-nation, statewide high-speed rail system,” said Authority Chairman Tom Richards. “We look forward to working with all of our regional partners and stakeholders in developing modern, sustainable transportation infrastructure, completing our work in the Central Valley and connecting to the Bay Area as soon as possible.”

The approval of the San Francisco-to-San Jose high-speed rail project section and its environmental document represents a major milestone in advancing the entire statewide program by linking the San Francisco Bay Area and the Peninsula to San Jose, the Central Valley, and Los Angeles County in southern California. Connecting these major economic regions with high-speed rail will change how people travel throughout the state and foster more equitable employment and housing opportunities.

The Board’s certification of the San Francisco-to-San Jose Final EIR/EIS and approval of its project section will move the project section closer to being “shovel ready” when funding for final design, pre-construction and construction becomes available.

In approving this project section, the Authority Board of Directors selected the Preferred Alternative (Alternative A). This alternative builds on the Caltrain electrification project and incorporates the infrastructure necessary to run high-speed rail service in the corridor. The approved Alternative A extends from the previously approved San Jose high-speed rail station and includes new high-speed rail stations in San Francisco and Millbrae; construction of a light maintenance facility on the east side of the Caltrain corridor in Brisbane; and improvements for safety and speed in the region.

The Final EIR/EIS can be found on the Authority’s website here: https://hsr.ca.gov/programs/environmental-planning/project-section-environmental-documents-tier-2/san-francisco-to-san-jose-project-section-draft-environmental-impact-report-environmental-impact-statement/

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