Arrived in time for a brief update to the EIR status. The document is meant to be released in January, with a Planning Commission hearing to follow on April.
The discussion topic for this session is High Speed Rail.
Alignment: Three-track, Direct/Downtown tunnel and aerial options have been withdrawn. That leaves the previously chosen alignment (parallel to UPRR) and 87/280 option to choose from.
According to one of the project leads, very few trains will be “whizzing by” Diridon station, perhaps one per hour and at 45 mph. All other trains will stop in SJ.
Residents are not happy that the tunnel option has been withdrawn. The cost wasn’t cited directly but when pressed, the estimate was $2 billion for a 3-mile tunnel with 1380-foot platform. Shades of the Peninsula…
newballpark.org 
I abhor NIMBY’s! If the local residents near the UPRR/Caltrain tracks want a tunnel then start those massive bake sales and raise the $2+ billion necessary to do the job! My sentiment would be different if I were a “resident” you say? For the record, the first three years of my life were spent across the street from the construction of I-680 in East San Jose. We moved, and I can’t even think of a San Jose without 680! The greater good!
VTA cheaped out on light rail by not tunneling through downtown, and now it’s the slowest, least efficient LRT in the nation. Pennywise, pound foolish.
Yes, but it’s also slow in other places as well.
Jersey City’s line (a newer system) has similar problems.
And the VTA line doesn’t serve the airport very well, even though it runs nearby.
Not disagreeing with the VTA cheaping out and making their light rail experience intolerable, but wondering why Portland’s MAX (which has a similar setup through their downtown) is so much more popular?
I rode it this summer; it didn’t seem nearly as annoying as the VTA, but I couldn’t put finger on exactly why.
It helps that MAX is free downtown. Headways are more consistent. There’s also the streetcar, which covers more of downtown than MAX does plus other places that people might want to go to like the Pearl District. One of the most frustrating things about VTA LRT is the routing – why should a person in East San Jose have to go through the Northside to get to downtown?
By the way R.M.,
What’s your take on the locals/downtown neighborhood associations views/opinions towards the ballpark? For, against, undecided, etc.?
It’s hard to get a feel for that at this session since the ballpark was not the focus. We’ll get a better read in 9 days. I don’t think it’ll change too much from previous discussions – some area residents for, some against, downtown business leaders for.