California High Speed Rail Authority -- PRESENTATION

Honorable Chair, Authority Board Members and Staff

The Governing Body of California has challenged this Authority with inventing a future mobility for the projected 45 million residents who will live and work in California by 2020. A new secure, reliable regional and intercity transportation system should act as the foundation of a strong economy. It should serve the future knowledge-based communities for a diverse set industries over the next hundred years.

Californians need to maximize the exchange of goods and services, culture, friendship, ideas, and knowledge. The transportation technology of choice should collapse distance by shortening time periods between San Francisco and Los Angeles and places in between.

Today we wish to share a brief design solution for the City of Bakersfield and it’s Metropolitan area.

The approach path from the south and/or east converges into the Bakersfield metro area at approximately Hwy 58 and Mount Vernon Avenue. It is here that we suggest a two-path divergence of lines. One path should be directed northward towards the Union Pacific corridor. The second path westward toward the Burlington Northern & Sante Fe alignment. The Center City station should be located on the north side of the BNSF as pedestrian close to the existing Amtrak Station as possible.

This solution therefore locates two potential rail alignments for the Bakersfield Metropolitan Central City location.

The first path allows for high-speed non-stop line along the Union Pacific corridor. This will thereafter allow convergence northward toward either of the Burlington Northern and Southern Pacific corridors to the Bay area.

The second path suggests a local service line. This runs along the Burlington Northern Sante Fe alignment westwards and then northwards to serve Bakersfield passengers. The required deceleration and acceleration geometries would allow local access to the main high-speed line in both northerly and southerly directions.

This solution also proposes to take opportunity of adjacent industrially zoned land areas for both local and state high speed transportation service, namely: -

For cleaning, re-stocking and switching of the high-speed transportation trains in a close-by maintenance area

For an area given to high-speed transportation system guide way maintenance.

For a high-speed transportation system construction yard.

Geographically Bakersfield is California’s strategic center of two major north and south metropolitan areas. So situated it has land available to promote construction assembly, maintenance and service of trains.

We ask the Authority to give serious consideration of these available land parcels on this local line and this solution to a central city station location. The fact that Bakersfield also has quite a record of skillful manufacturing is significant. We have a great desire to boost the oil/agricultural economic base, with this venture.

We hope the Authority achieves this project from concept to completion for all Californians. It will be the most significant accomplishment since the California Aqueduct.

As citizens of this Bakersfield metropolitan area, we believe that we deserve a central city station.

BY Graham Kaye-Eddie – Master Urban Designer.

Makabusi Inc. – Bakersfield – California

Email – makabusi@pacbell.net

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