The California High-Speed Rail Authority has set a series of open house meetings including one in Agua Dulce on Saturday, Sept. 29 to gather public comment on the Palmdale to Burbank project section, which would closely follow Highway 14 through the San Gabriel Mountains and the Santa Clarita Valley.
“Refined State Route 14” is a roughly 40-mile stretch that would connect the Palmdale Transportation Center in the Antelope Valley to a new high-speed rail station at the Hollywood Burbank Airport in the San Fernando Valley.
The chosen route would follow State Route 14 before tunneling under the San Gabriel Mountains, proceeding along San Fernando Road through the communities of Sylmar, San Fernando, Pacoima and Sun Valley.
Following HSR-hosted open house meetings in Lakeview Terrace/Sunland-Tujunga on Sept. 24, Pacoima-Northeast San Fernando Valley Sept. 26 and Palmdale Sept. 27, the Agua Dulce meeting will take place at High Desert High School from 10 a.m. to noon on Sept. 29.
A presentation is set to start at 10:30 a.m.
Meeting attendees “will learn about the staff-recommended ‘State’s Preferred Alternative’ to be carried forward in the Draft Environmental Impact Statement, information about the environmental review to date, and other proposed project features,” according to an HSR flyer.
The HSR expects the draft EIR to be completed and released in late 2019 or early 2020.
Michelle Boehm, HSR’s regional director for Southern California, announced its choice of Refined State Route 14 on Wednesday. HRS officials determined this option cutting through the communities of Sun Valley, San Fernando, Agua Dulce and Santa Clarita would be less expensive than two other options.
The route would still involve five separate tunnels, a number of bridges, and at-grade sections, and could have a negative impact on SCV homes, businesses and ranches, as well as schools, areas of the Angeles National Forest, a small airport and a hospital.
The revised alternatives have been continually refined in Supplemental Alternatives Analysis Reports over the years, most recently in April 2016. This SAA analyzes the three alignment alternatives, including the environmental, technical and feasibility factors that went into these changes, according to an HRS news release.
The SAA report reviews how the alignments affect — or avoid impacting — the Angeles National Forest, designated wilderness areas and the San Gabriel Mountains National Monument.
The Palmdale to Burbank project section is part of the first phase of building the nation’s first high-speed rail system.
Santa Clarita City Officials Displeased
Meanwhile, Santa Clarita city officials are not pleased with the proposed route.
“We don’t support anything above ground through Santa Clarita, period,” Santa Clarita Mayor Laurene Weste said on Friday.
The proposed route would still not include a station in the SCV.
“There’s no station planned for Santa Clarita, never was,” Weste said. “We have always said it cannot come up above ground through Santa Clarita.”
Weste described the project as “ludicrous for the public.”
“One of the biggest problems is (HSR is) using 19th-century steel wheel technology,” she said. “It’s loud, difficult, and not 21st century.”
As to what the city can do about it at this point, “We will continue to work toward not having Santa Clarita impacted in any negative way,” Weste said.
“The city is watching what they are doing and providing input in a friendly way as long as that’s what works,” she said. “But we will not acquiesce to above ground through Santa Clarita.”
To view the complete Sept. 19 report on choosing Refined State Route 14, [click here].
COMMENT POLICY: We welcome comments from individuals and businesses. All comments are moderated. Comments are subject to rejection if they are vulgar, combative, or in poor taste.
REAL NAMES ONLY: All posters must use their real individual or business name. This applies equally to Twitter account holders who use a nickname.
Santa Clarita Valley Water Agency board member BJ Atkins told The Signal Thursday he has delayed his plan to resign from the board, due to construction delays on a house he is building outside of the agency’s jurisdiction.
As the cleanup of close to 1,000 acres of contaminated soil and water at Whittaker-Bermite comes to a close, and while lawyers in bankruptcy court hundreds of miles from the site slice through litigation so that one day stores or homes can be built there, the land itself is reverting to the way it was long before the dynamite makers made a mess of it, where the deer — if not the antelope — and other critters play, marking a robust return of wildlife.
On Friday, Los Angeles County Public Health officials confirmed seven new deaths and 3,058 new cases of COVID-19, marking the third day in a row with more than 2,500 cases reported in a day.
The Soraya, located at the California State University, Northridge campus, announced it is celebrating both its 10th Anniversary and its reopening with a special gift of five free concerts to welcome back and thank its loyal audience.
Santa Clarita Valley Water Agency board member BJ Atkins told The Signal Thursday he has delayed his plan to resign from the board, due to construction delays on a house he is building outside of the agency’s jurisdiction.
As the cleanup of close to 1,000 acres of contaminated soil and water at Whittaker-Bermite comes to a close, and while lawyers in bankruptcy court hundreds of miles from the site slice through litigation so that one day stores or homes can be built there, the land itself is reverting to the way it was long before the dynamite makers made a mess of it, where the deer — if not the antelope — and other critters play, marking a robust return of wildlife.
The city of Santa Clarita and Canyon View Estates have proposed two differing judgments in court filings this month on the matter of a solar panel system at the Canyon Country mobile home park.
Newhall School District board members voted unanimously Tuesday to ask the California Department of Public Health to provide new face-covering guidance to give the district discretion over whether to make masks optional.
On Friday, Los Angeles County Public Health officials confirmed seven new deaths and 3,058 new cases of COVID-19, marking the third day in a row with more than 2,500 cases reported in a day.
With the 2021 Tokyo Olympics getting underway, the final rosters are set and athletes across the country are ready to begin competition and represent the USA at today’s Opening Ceremony — including some of the Santa Clarita Valley’s own elite athletes.
The city of Santa Clarita is calling all Recycle Heroes! The city announced it is inviting residents to participate in a citywide social media contest where residents create their own TikTok video themed after the city’s Recycle Hero campaign, which encourages residents to recycle right.
The Los Angeles County Department of Public Health confirmed Thursday 13 new deaths and 2,767 new cases of COVID-19 countywide, with 29,192 total cases in the Santa Clarita Valley.
Green Santa Clarita is excited to launch a newly redesigned website filled with valuable resources and programming for Santa Clarita residents and businesses looking to live more sustainably.
Supervisor Kathryn Barger, whose 5th District includes the Santa Clarita Valley, has authored a motion to create a Blue-Ribbon Commission on Homelessness that, if approved, will provide guidance and recommendations to the Board of Supervisors on reforms to solve the homelessness crisis throughout Los Angeles County.
The Child and Family Center of Santa Clarita was one of 63 nonprofits receiving part of the $750,000 in grant awards from the Los Angeles County Department of Arts and Culture, as a part of the County's Community Impact Arts Grant (CIAG) program.
After several fires in the Santa Clarita Valley this past week, everyone from utility representatives to fire officials to meteorologists is reminding residents that, due to unusually dry weather during fire season, they should have their Ready! Set! Go! plans ready to go.
Mayor Bill Miranda spoke directly with the committee recommending the transfer of violent juvenile offenders to Camps Scott and Scudder on Wednesday, saying the move required more environmental impact reports and public outreach.
SACRAMENTO — State Superintendent of Public Instruction Tony Thurmond hosted Wednesday the first American Indian Education Oversight Committee (AIEOC) meeting since 2017.
Henry Mayo Newhall Hospital announced that Logix Federal Credit Union will continue to sponsor the hospital's Foundation Palliative Care Teddy Bear program.
The Los Angeles County Department of Public Health confirmed Wednesday seven new deaths and 2,551 new cases and of COVID-19, with 29,104 total cases in the Santa Clarita Valley.
Tweet This
Facebook
Digg This
Bookmark
Stumble
RSS
REAL NAMES ONLY: All posters must use their real individual or business name. This applies equally to Twitter account holders who use a nickname.
2 Comments
Amber Harding Diana Mendoza Mikey Montes
How long will this go on 😂