Mr. Dan Leavitt

Deputy Director

ATTN: San Jose to Merced

California High Speed Rail Authority

925 L Street, Suite 1425

Sacramento, CA  95814

 

Dear Mr. Leavitt:

 

The Willow Glen Neighborhood Association (WGNA) thanks the High Speed Rail Authority (HSRA) for the opportunity to suggest scoping questions for this phase of development of California’s High Speed Rail (HST). WGNA thanks the staff and consultants for their outreach and accessibility to members of our organization.

The Willow Glen Neighborhood Association (WGNA) of San Jose serves those 20,000 households living in the area roughly bounded by Interstate I-280, Highway 87, Foxworthy and Leigh Avenues. WGNA comments upon projects within and near our boundaries. The High Speed rail alignment from Tamien Station to Interstate 280 is within WGNA’s service area; the Diridon station area is within our area of comment.

WGNA requests the following additional alternatives be evaluated:

 

1.       An alignment from Tamien station that generally follows Highway 87 to the interchange at Interstate 280 where it would thread through the flyovers and descend underground to Diridon Station, with rail for HST, Caltrain, and the possibility of moving Union Pacific Railroad (UPRR).

 

2.       An alignment for HST, Caltrain, and UPRR which begins its descent into a trench adjacent to the UPRR Right of Way near Curtner Avenue and goes underground before Tamien station, travels under Guadalupe River and Los Gatos Creek, arriving underground at Diridon Station.

 

In your evaluation of these two alternatives and the current route alternatives, how will cost be weighed with environmental factors? Will HSRA use an evaluation matrix that includes answers to the following questions?

How will each of the alternatives…

 

  1. Contribute, maintain or improve access to the Gardner, Gregory Plaza, and North Willow Glen neighborhoods?

 

  1. Align with the goals of the City of San Jose’s Strong Neighborhood Initiative Greater Gardner Action Plan?

 

  1.  Impact measures of environmental justice, specifically with respect to the Greater Gardner neighborhood that the City of San Jose has identified as an “at risk” low income, language and ethnic minority neighborhood that receives substantial city resources to improve the quality of life of its residents and to prevent additional blight? Which of the alternatives best serves the goal of environmental justice?

 

  1. Affect traffic conditions and circulation in the Diridon Station Area?

 

  1. Change noise conditions within the Greater Gardner and North Willow Glen neighborhoods between Auzerais and Tamien Station?  In addition, is it appropriate to lower noise significance by one full measure due to the elimination of the use of horns at West Virginia, given that trains use their horns as they approach Tamien even though there is no at grade crossing?

 

  1. Impact parkland adjacent to and near the alternative alignments, including Fuller Park, Biebrach Park, Gregory Plaza tot lot, Father Mateo Sheey Park, the new park near Almaden Apartments on Almaden Road, Guadalupe River, Los Gatos Creek and Willow Glen Spur (Three Creeks) trails, the planned Fire Training Center Park as specified in the Midtown Specific Plan and the planned Tamien Station Park? How will these impacts be mitigated given that no land is available within the nexus of the underserved Greater Gardner, Washington, and Delmas Park communities?

 

  1. Impact historic properties and the contextual integrity of the potential historic conservation area (see Greater Gardner Strategic Plan), including vibration damage and the acquisition of contributing historic structures?
  2. Impact adjacent properties with shading? How many properties adjacent to each alternative route will suffer impacts that constitute a “taking”?
  3. Require land acquisition and leave behind “remnant” pieces that attract dumping, illegal activities, and blight?
  4. Use design features that encourage or discourage levels of current graffiti that contributes to blight?
  5. Be evaluated for safety for passengers, for Greater Gardner residents and North Willow Glen residents?
  6. Be evaluated with respect to the soil conditions of Greater Gardner, which is a former marsh of the Guadalupe, with soil that is subject to compaction and transmits vibration?
  7. Facilitate ease of transfer between HST and BART or Caltrain?
  8. Impact travel time for through trains and expresses?

 

When you evaluate the impacts of each of these alternatives, please clarify how you established the hierarchy and priority of the multiple interrelated City of San Jose area plans (see below) and the multiple plan layers since:

1. It is very difficult to determine whether the High Speed Rail proposal or other area approved development proposals or plans are consistent or not consistent to each individual plan, the combined overlaid plans or the possible Baseball Stadium (as described in the approved Baseball Stadium EIR)

2. Whether the impacts are significant and the proposed mitigations are appropriate to the proposed site given all of the plans that may lead to different analysis

3. It is very confusing to the public—even to residents who have studied and analyzed prior San Jose area DEIR's or have professional training or experience with EIR's.

We look forward to your comprehensive evaluation of the environmental impacts of these alternative alignments, construction options and associated mitigations.

 

Sincerely,

 

 

Richard Zappelli

Chair, Planning and Land Use Committee

Board Secretary

Willow Glen Neighborhood Association

 

 

Bibliography

City of San Jose:

2020 General Plan

Midtown Specific Plan

Diridon Transit Station Area Plan

Tamien Station Area Specific Plan

Greenprint 2000/Greenprint 2008

Redevelopment Agency of San Jose:

Diridon/Arena Strategic Development Plan

Delmas Park NAC Strategic Plan

Greater Gardner NAC Strategic Plan

Washington NAC Strategic Plan

 

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