FRESNO (KMJ) — The first underground construction for California’s High Speed Rail project is ready to begin in Fresno.
The approximately two mile long trench will start from between Olive and Belmont Avenues and run as far as Stanislaus Street. The work is part of the plan to run the line underneath Highway 180 and other nearby buildings.
“If you see behind me here, 180 is elevated in this section”, says Design and Construction Manager Hugo Mejia. “To go over them, and we have to have approximately 27 feet of clearance, you’d have to have a pretty big structure…and with the speeds that we’re going through we’d have a very big viaduct going over this area.
“The best option is just to go under”.
Planners have warned that there will be some associated disruption for those who use Highway 180, with lane and shoulder closures anticipated as well as periodic closures of the southbound and northbound Highway 99 connectors. The aim is to conduct the work at night during the week.
“It’s going to take approximately 18 months to 2 years to get this entire operation completed and we’re going to have some shifts up on 180 for the traffic patterns, to be able to construct the box we’re going to construct”, continues Mejia.
The announcement comes as criticism is levied against the High Speed Rail Authority, due to suggestions that the realigning of a section of Highway 99 near Fresno is over budget and behind schedule.
“According to Caltrans they’re going to start cutting corners to get the job finished”, says Assemblyman Jim Patterson. “All to build a train that won’t be high speed on a track that’s already obsolete”.
He has put forward a bill he says will hold the High Speed Rail authority accountable.
“They can’t get all the land, they don’t have enough money and they’re running out of time”.
In response the High Speed Rail authority says the $35 million increase, and new completion date of December 2018, were both accounted and budgeted for in the cost estimates included in the 2016 Business Plan.
The group adds that the change will not impact the overall construction schedule or budget for the first construction segment in the Central Valley. Click here for more detail on Assemblyman Patterson’s objections.
Hear the story from KMJ’s Dominic McAndrew as it aired:
