High-speed rail NIMBYism in San Mateo County

[marmar]

By Mike Rosenberg
San Mateo County Times

Posted: 08/24/2010 11:00:00 PM PDT


A growing number of San Mateo residents and businesses are agonizing about what will become of their properties and the city's downtown as state officials move closer to building a three-story-high, 80-foot-wide railroad through town.

State high-speed rail planners earlier this month said they won't build the two types of buried tracks -- a tunnel or a covered trench -- that officials and residents wanted for the portion of the 520-mile project that will run through north San Mateo, including downtown.

Instead, the California High-Speed Rail Authority will pick from two alignments for the 1.8-mile stretch of track from the Burlingame border to the Hayward Park station.

The options include an open trench -- underground tracks open to the surface -- or an aerial viaduct, which is a roughly 30-foot high structure similar to a freeway overpass. But even the open trench option seems unlikely. State engineers estimate it would cost $405 million for that area, compared with $238 million for an aerial viaduct, and the city has no money to make up the difference.

"I think all hell will break loose if anything different" than underground tracks are built, said Anna Kuhre, president of the San Mateo United Homeowners Association, a collaborative of neighborhood groups across the city. "This is our downtown. It's sacred to the citizens. I think people will take to the streets."

Meanwhile, the Central Neighborhood Association, which represents the area east of the downtown tracks, is shuddering at the thought of the project. ..........(more)

The complete piece is at: http://www.mercurynews.com/breaking-news/ci_15885959?nclick_check=1

[Odin2005]

1. Some people will whine about anything, screw them.

[liberal N proud]

2. Is there going to be a stop in San Mateo?

If there were, the city is missing an opportunity for tourism dollars.

[ljm2002]

3. They did the same thing when BART was being planned...

...San Mateo County voted to keep it out of their county, thus no airport extension at the time, and it stopped BART from making a ring around the Bay as originally planned. And of course building the extra rails later became much, much more expensive.