Rail officials seek public input for route between Burbank and Union Station
As California High Speed Rail Authority officials begin to look at the options for the bullet-train section connecting a proposed station near Bob Hope Airport in Burbank to Los Angeles Union Station, they’re seeking expert opinions — from the public.
“We need your input,” said Michelle Boehm, the authority’s Southern California regional director, during a presentation Tuesday night at Union Station. “What we need your help with is what is that most popular restaurant? ... What are those back roads that you take [to avoid traffic]?”
In other words, the authority wants to know what it can glean about the communities the rail line may pass through that isn’t contained in reports, maps and other technical sources.
The public meeting in downtown Los Angeles was the first in the most recent set of events to discuss the rail section south of the proposed Burbank station. A second meeting is slated from 5:30 to 7:30 p.m. on Monday at the Glendale Adult Recreation Center, 201 E. Colorado St.
The Glendale meeting will be webcast live on ustream.tv/channel/chsra and will be posted online later in the week for those who can’t be there in person, said Adeline Yee, a spokeswoman for the authority.
Boehm said part of the purpose of the meeting was to “reintroduce” high-speed rail, including an effort to fit the rail alignment within the existing right-of-way of the LOSSAN rail corridor, which runs from San Luis Obispo through Los Angeles to San Diego.
Construction of the route will involve grade separation at Doran Street, south of the Ventura (134) Freeway, as well as a potential revamping of the “dead end” at Union Station to create “run-through” tracks that cross the Hollywood (101) Freeway and improve on-time performance in the region, Boehm said.
The case for a bullet-train system that “shrinks the state,” linking its major population centers, is based on a need to improve the flow of people and goods, Boehm said. She said the authority is working to design an 800-mile system that meets its statutory requirement of traveling from Los Angeles to San Francisco in 2 hours and 40 minutes.
The segment from Burbank to Los Angeles, however, will be only 12 miles long and is expected to have a travel time of 10 minutes, running every 30 minutes. It’s the shortest segment of the bullet-train project, but one of the most complex, Boehm said.
That means there are a lot of points to consider, including potential environmental and community impacts, as well as opportunities to address needs in the community, such as looking at ways to expand the economy in areas around the station locations.
The Burbank City Council agreed in September to accept $800,000 in state grants for planning activities related to a proposed Burbank bullet train station near Bob Hope Airport, with a $400,000 match coming mostly from a grant from the Los Angeles County Metropolitan Transit Authority.
In attendance Tuesday were representatives from the real estate-development firm Overton Moore Properties, which recently purchased a roughly 58-acre parcel near the airfield, known as the “Opportunity Site,” which high-speed rail officials have been eyeing as a possible station site.
“I have a lot of questions,” said Michael Johnson, development manager at the firm, after he and a colleague got an overview of issues related to route alignments, station design and whether the routes would be tunneled underground or dug into the ground — details that are still being defined by the authority and which depend on further study of environmental impacts.
Residents can submit their questions, comments or feedback to the rail authority at the meeting on Monday in Glendale or online at www.hsr.ca.gov, via email to burbank_los.angeles@hsr.ca.gov or by mail to California High-Speed Rail Authority Attn: Burbank to Los Angeles Project Section, 700 N. Alameda St., Room 3-532, Los Angeles CA 90012.
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Chad Garland, chad.garland@latimes.com
Twitter: @chadgarland
