SACRAMENTO — The California High-Speed Rail Authority has completed the environmental review process for the 23-mile from Shafter, Calif., to Bakersfield, allowing the authority to move toward construction into Bakersfield.
The process required more than 100 stakeholder meetings, 17 public and technical-group meetings, and 15 monthly meetings coordinating regulatory agencies. More details are available here.
The Nov. 8 announcement is part of an ongoing process of obtaining environmental clearance for the entire route from San Francisco to the Los Angeles area; the authority anticipates releasing its six remaining draft environmental documents in 2020.
The authority is continuing the pre-construction process even though Gov. Gavin Newsom has placed most of the project on hold, although work continues on the segment between Bakersfield and the Central Valley community of Merced. [See “California governor sinks SF-LA high speed rail plans,” Trains News Wire, Feb. 12, 2019.]
