Anaheim 2060

During the November 2008 election, California voters approved Proposition 1A, a bond issuance to fund the construction of a high speed rail line for the state. Anaheim’s Regional Transportation Intermodal Center (ARTIC) will be the southern terminus during the first phase of the High Speed Rail network. As part of the design and impact study for the construction of the HSR line between ARTIC and the Fullerton train station, the High Speed Rail Authority, OCTA, and the City of Anaheim will be holding an Open House on January 20th in the Anaheim Council Chambers. I’m posting this now to give people an overview of the entire system and some of the challenges present in Anaheim.

Along with the bonds approved by voters in November 2008, Governor Schwarzenegger applied for additional Federal funding made available through the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act (ARRA). Proposition 1A made $9 billion available to build the core of the HSR line between Anaheim and San Francisco, via Los Angeles Union Station and Fresno. Prop 1A also made $950 million available for upgrades to other rail lines that will feed the HSR system. The ARRA application is for $4.7 billion, primarily for train facilities at Union Station, Norwalk and ARTIC, as well as right-of-way acquisition and grade separations along the entire length of the track. The ARRA application also include funds for a deep bore tunnel between ARTIC and Fullerton.

Since the approval of Prop 1A, the California High Speed Rail Authority has been conducting the required environmental studies. These studies not only show the impact on nature, but also our communities and the people who live there. Part of these studies includes an examination of multiple alternatives and a cost-benefit analysis of each. The goal of the High Speed Rail Authority is to complete these environmental studies by the end of 2011 and begin construction in 2012.

There were four alternatives for the section of rail line between ARTIC and the Fullerton station. Two of the alternatives have already been rejected. Those two alternatives were to not build this section of rail or to build it on an elevated line. The two alternatives that are still being considered are a deep bore tunnel under the existing right-of-way or to expand the right-of-way that runs just south of East St through The Colony.

While this is not the most contested section of HSR track, it has generated quite a bit of controversy. Cynthia Ward, along with the Anaheim Historical Society, has raised concerns over some of the historic buildings and neighborhoods that will be disrupted by the at-grade proposal. At the same time, the High Speed Rail Blog entirely dismisses their concerns, stating that digging a tunnel will be too costly. The figure they give is that a tunnel is six times more expensive per mile than at-grade construction. While that might be the case when it comes to building the tracks themselves, it does not take into account the cost of land acquisition for the expanded right-of-way or the seven grade crossings that will need to be built between ARTIC and Fullerton.

Unfortunately, the alternatives study does not take the true cost of at-grade construction into account. This is not the only place the alternative studies are lacking. For the section of tracks running up the Central Valley, they are either going to go up the east side or the west side of the Valley. One side has much more valuable farm land than the other, but since it’s all farm land, the alternatives study views the land as being the same cost.

Along with the cost advantages to a tunnel, there are also advantages for both the schedule and the community to digging a tunnel.  It’s possible that many of the properties that would need to be acquired to build the tracks at grade would need to be acquired through eminent domain, which can be a long, slow process. Cynthia Ward has compiled a thorough list of properties that would have to be acquired, although there is obviously no indication of whether the current property owners would be willing sellers or not. Not only would the right-of-way need to be made wider, the biggest impact would likely be to build the grade separations at each of the seven road crossings. High speed trains cannot cross roads the way normal rail roads do.

While the tunnel sounds like a good way forward, there are some challenges to getting it adopted as the prime choice. As has already been discussed, the alternatives study is, at a minimum, incomplete. Secondly, residents on the San Francisco peninsula want a tunnel through Palo Alto and San Jose. However, the situation there is quite a bit different than in Anaheim since the HSR line can be built mostly within existing right-of-ways on the peninsula. To complicate this matter, the Chair of the California High Speed Rail Board is our own Mayor, Curt Pringle. While there are legitimate reasons why a tunnel is an appropriate choice in Anaheim but not on the peninsula, it will be difficult for Mayor Pringle to avoid appearing to play favorites.

Unfortunately, the above ground option was rejected before the public could have a say in the matter. This is exactly the type of issue where it is important to have residents involved early enough in the process where they can make a difference.

The most likely reason the above ground option was rejected is that some people think that elevated rail lines are ugly. While that’s often the case, there are plenty of well designed elevated railways that fit in with the community. One factor that lends itself to an elevated rail in Anaheim is that the existing right-of-way already provides a break between neighborhoods, so the new elevated line wouldn’t be bisecting existing neighborhoods.

Here are some photos from the California High Speed Rail Blog showing well designed, elevated railways:

Thankfully there is a public meeting on January 20th from 5-7pm in the Anaheim Council Chambers. The address is 200 S. Anaheim Blvd. This meeting is set up as an open house, so come by any time you can. However, there will be a brief presentation at 5:30 by the High Speed Rail Authority staff.

Anaheim, and California as a whole, needs to see this High Speed Rail built. It will create jobs and speed the flow of people around the state. Having the station at ARTIC will make it easier for resident from around California enjoy Anaheim’s many tourist attractions.

Thus far, this website has been transportation heavy. This is for two reasons: first, transportation is the key to unlocking any of the other changes we might want to see in our built environment; second, there are some real challenges for Anaheim when it comes to implementing the High Speed Rail. This second point is what’s providing the time pressure for all of these transportation related posts, there is a public meeting next week about HSR in Anaheim and I would like to lay the groundwork for all of the transportation issues before then. I’ll have a post that looks more specifically at the HSR issues prior to next week’s public meeting.

There are many types of public transit, each type serves a different purpose. Rail, subways and monorails, and buses each serve a different role in the transportation landscape. The different types of transit form something of a chain, where each link connects to the others and, to use a a tired cliche, the entire system is only as strong as its weakest link.

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The City of Anaheim has been studying whether it should build a transit link between ARTIC and the Anaheim Resort.  The city has commissioned the Anaheim Fixed-Guideway Transit Corridor Study and is well under way with gathering public input.

As the Anaheim Resort continues to grow and expand, it will become necessary to accommodate more visitors into the area.  Over the past few years, the resort has added a number of new destinations, most notably the GardenWalk. Disney is currently renovating Disney’s California Adventure, with the hopeful result being increased park attendance.  The convention Center has been contemplating expansion plans. As the Platinum Triangle develops, more residents will be living in the area. Once ARTIC is built, it will be easier for visitors to get to Anaheim without a car.  These visitors will need a method of transit within the city once they get to the city. With all of this recent and planned expansion of the Resort and Platinum Triangle, it is important for the City to look ahead at its future needs and make its own plans to ensure those needs are met.

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In the two decades between 1950 and 1970, Anaheim grew from 14,500 residents to 166,000. More than at any other time in American history, urban planning over those same twenty years was dominated by the automobile. Anaheim’s rapid growth during this car dominated era has lead to a city whose infrastructure has been built around getting people from place to place by car.  This monomaniacal focus on the automobile is felt throughout the city even today.

The primary challenge presented to the city because of this rapid growth at the height of the car culture is that Anaheim’s infrastructure is designed around the car. Anaheim is very spread out, without any centers for people to congregate or transit connections between different parts of the city. Many communities have been bisected by freeway construction and continue to be harassed by freeway expansion. There is not a single street or block throughout the city that has not been negatively affected by parking whether it’s a lack of parking caused by over crowding or the creation of sufficient parking that leads to great expanses of asphalt that negatively impacts our community in other ways. Anaheim needs to transition its infrastructure from being car dominated into one that is more walkable, transit oriented and sustainable. While it is easy for some cities to build new infrastructure that’s not completely designed around the car, since they’re not having to change their legacy systems, it will take decades for Anaheim to change and evolve

While these changes will be hard to imagine in a city like Anaheim, we must start our journey down this path if we are to see the city thrive in the decades to come.
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