Meeting_Body
REVISED
PLANNING AND PROGRAMMING COMMITTEE
MAY 15, 2019
Subject
SUBJECT: READINESS IN RESPONSE TO POTENTIAL HIGH SPEED RAIL CHANGES
Action
ACTION: RECEIVE AND FILE
Heading
RECOMMENDATION
Title
RECEIVE AND FILE report on potential changes in the California High Speed Rail system.
Issue
ISSUE
On February 28, 2019, Directors Barger, Najarian and Krekorian directed the Chief Executive Officer to:
A. Acknowledge the importance of connectivity through a Palmdale station to maximize regional integrated operations, and the importance of working towards the advancement of funding for critical projects in the Los Angeles region;
B. Engage with the offices of Governor Newsom, the California High Speed Rail Authority (CAHSR), and the State Transportation Agency (CalSTA), to explore how the Governor's proposed changes to the HSR project might affect the Palmdale to Burbank, Burbank to Union Station, and Union Station to Anaheim segments, and identify what opportunities might be available to advance critical regional improvements, and;
C. Engage Metrolink, CalSTA, and the CAHSR to begin coordinating efforts to identify specific projects to propose for advancement, taking into consideration the State Rail Plan, Metrolink’s SCORE program, SCAG’s ongoing RTP effort, the forthcoming Antelope Valley Line study, and the countywide Freight & Goods Movement Strategic Plan.
Discussion
DISCUSSION
Background
The CAHSR 2018 Business Plan dated June 1, 2018 identifies the Palmdale to Burbank, Burbank to Union Station, and Union Station to Anaheim segments as critical to supporting the Southern California economy. Since then, a high-speed rail audit by the State Auditor was released on November 15, 2018 faulting the CAHSR for cost overruns and delays and identified a number of areas of improvement. The CAHSR responded to the State Auditor and stressed commitment to its mission to deliver high-speed rail to California, while also being good stewards of taxpayer dollars. Furthermore, the Authority Board of Directors marked a program milestone in November 2018 by advancing environmental clearances in Southern California for three project sections: Palmdale to Burbank, Burbank to Los Angeles and Los Angeles to Anaheim. Then in Governor’s State of the State address delivered on February 12, 2019, the Governor refocused the priority of the high speed rail system to completing the Central Valley. The CAHSR indicated that Governor’s State address did not change the CAHSR’s approach with respect to project delivery in Southern California and stated the Governor’s commitment to continue advancing regional bookend projects north and south, and to finish environmental clearance for the statewide Phase 1 system including the Southern California project sections between Bakersfield and Anaheim. Given CAHSR’s focus on the Central Valley to Silicon Valley segments, the arrival of high speed rail into the Southern California region may take longer than 2033 which will further increase the high speed rail project costs due to market escalation.
A. In partnership with the City of Palmdale, the California High Speed Rail Authority is proposing a new multi-modal station in the City of Palmdale, located near Avenue Q and Sierra Highway, adjacent to the Metrolink Palmdale Station. This new multi-modal Palmdale Transportation Center (PTC) will feature a Metrolink station with local and commuter bus hub. The PTC will also serve the proposed Virgin USA Trains (formerly Brightline and XpressWest) high speed rail service via the future High Desert Corridor. This proposed PTC is currently part of the Palmdale Transit Village Specific Plan, a 110-acre transit-oriented, mixed-use planning area located between Rancho Vista Boulevard and Avenue R and between State Route 14 and 15th Street East, and includes the Palmdale Airport. The Palmdale Transit Village Specific Plan will be used to guide land use changes to promote economic development, encourage station accessibility and enhance regional mobility. The multimodal PTC is described in the 2018 State Rail Plan, Southern California Association of Government’s Regional Transportation Plan (2016-2040) and California High Speed Rail Authority (CAHSR) 2018 Business Plan.
B. Staff from Metro’s Government Relations, County-wide Planning and Regional Rail engages regularly with the office of the Governor, the State Transportation Agency (CalSTA), CAHSR, State Senators and Assembly members. Staff continues to discuss the progress CAHSR’s contribution totaling $500 million to the bookend projects of the Link Union Station and the Rosecrans Marquardt Grade Separation Projects with CalSTA and CAHSR. At staff’s recent meetings with CalSTA and CAHSR in February and April of 2019, CAHSR and Calsta have confirmed that there are no changes to the HSR plan outlined in the CAHSR 2018 Business Plan. On March 26, 2019, staff was invited to testify at the High Speed Rail Joint Informational Hearing of the Senate Transportation Committee & Senate Budget Sub-committee at the State Capital along with Metrolink and Caltrain. Staff testified on the significant benefits that can come from CAHSR making more new investments in the existing rail infrastructure system in Southern California especially in Los Angeles County, specifically Lancaster, Palmdale and Burbank to Los Angeles that will provide immediate benefits that speed up rail service in Southern California with decreased travel times as well as improved commutes for people in Southern California who are already making two to three hour commutes one way. Staff also reminded the Senators the importance of HSR’s guiding principle of making strategic concurrent investments that will be linked over time with the HSR system that enhance mobility and provide, economic and environmental benefits to Southern California while positioning CAHSR to construct additional segments as funding becomes available.
C. Proposition 1A High Speed Passenger Train Bond Act stipulates that the high-speed train would need to move at a speed of at least 200 mph and connect San Francisco to Los Angeles Union Station in 2 hours and 40 minutes or less. Therefore, CAHSR has proposed dedicated high speed rail corridors statewide to meet the speed and travel time requirement for the high speed rail system. In densely populated and developed urban areas where an existing rail corridor exists, CAHSR has proposed to improve those corridors, currently used by other commuter and intercity rail operators (e.g. Metrolink and Amtrak) and freight railroads (e.g. Union Pacific Railroad and Burlington Northern Santa Fe), and operate high-speed trains at the same speed as other rail operators and freight in a shared corridor with a blended approach. Staff believes with additional infrastructure investments by CAHSR on the Metrolink Antelope Valley Line in which high-speed trains can begin to operate in Southern California sooner, although overall travel time may be longer given the lower operating speed. Staff has coordinated with Metrolink and other local agencies to propose the following specific projects for advancement that would provide immediate regional mobility benefits that will relieve traffic congestion while accommodating a future HSR system totaling $1.044 billion or $522 million of new CAHSR investments, specifically along the Metrolink Antelope Valley Line which is also used by the LOSSAN/Amtrak service from Burbank to Lo Angeles Union Station as listed below:
Metrolink Antelope Valley Line - $1.044 Billion
1. Lancaster Terminal Improvements - $27.3 million
2. Palmdale Lancaster Double Track - $127.3 million
3. New multi-modal Palmdale Transportation Center - $70 million
4. Rancho Vista Boulevard Grade Separation - $100 million
5. Acton Downtown Double Track - $40.2 million
6. Ravenna-Agua Dolce Double Track - $56.3 million
7. Saugus-Hood Double Track - $41.6 million
8. New multi-modal Vista Canyon Maintenance Facilities $68.3 million
9. Santa Clarita Double Track - $75.2 million
10. Tunnel 25 Track - $10 million
11. Balboa Double Track Extension - $41.8 million
12. Brighton to Roxford Double Track - $226 million
13. Doran Street and Broadway/Brazil Grade Separation - $160 million
14. Burbank Junction- CP Taylor Track Improvements - $13.4 million
Cities and communities along the existing Metrolink corridors will benefit immediately from the early high speed rail investments. For example, the proposed new intermodal Palmdale Transportation Center as discussed in Item A will promote economic development and enhance regional mobility. The proposed Rancho Vista Boulevard and Doran Street and Broadway/Brazil Grade Separation projects will improve safety and traffic circulation in Cities of Palmdale, Glendale, and Los Angeles. The proposed Brighton to Roxford Double Track project will improve regional rail service and mobility while enhancing safety for the corridor communities and commuters on the Metrolink Antelope Valley Line. It should be noted that the recipient of the Proposition 1A funds shall provide matching funds in an amount not less than the amount awarded, i.e. a 50-50 match, under the Proposition 1A Bond Act. Therefore, the total cost of the specific projects is approximately $1.044 billion which is approximately $522 million of new CAHSR investments.
In addition, Metrolink has proposed a list of shovel-ready rehabilitation and capital projects for advancement on the Antelope Valley and Burbank to Anaheim corridor within the HSR project segments between Palmdale and Anaheim, including significant upgrades to track, signal and other railroad infrastructure with a total estimated cost of $80.3 million. See Attachments A-1 and A-2 for a detail listing of proposed projects from Metrolink.
As part of the A study of the Antelope Valley Line Study between Lancaster and Burbank is currently underway, as directed by Directors Barger and Najarian, in coordination with Metrolink and the North Los Angeles County Transportation Coalition (NCTC) stakeholders, Study has to analyzed various capital projects and service improvement scenarios in order to develop a prioritized list of projects on the Antelope Valley Line. In April 2019, the North Los Angeles County Transportation Coalition (NCTC) stakeholders recommended that four (4) projects, at a total estimated cost of $175 million, be advanced for further development in order to deliver a 30 minute service to Santa Clarita and hourly service to Lancaster. The Study is expected to be completed in August July 2019 with recommendation for strategic capital project advancements to and will be presented to the Metro Board for consideration by at the July 2019 board meeting.
Staff has coordinated with the CAHSR in regards to this Board motion and CAHSR has provided a memorandum in response to the motion (see Attachment B). This memorandum illustrates the long-standing working relationship between CAHSR, Metro, Metrolink, CalSTA, and other regional partners and reassures that there have been no changes to CAHSR priorities in Southern California and the commitments to the Southern California MOU projects from 2012. To date CAHSR has contributed and committed a total of $888 million from Proposition 1A funds, including $500 million in bookend projects (Link Union Station and Rosecrans/Marquardt Grade Separation) and $388 million in connectivity projects (Regional Connector and others). The CAHSR is in the process of environmentally clearing the statewide Phase 1 system.
The projects proposed for advancement from staff, Metrolink and CAHSR take into consideration the State Rail Plan, Metrolink’s SCORE program, SCAG’s ongoing RTP effort, the forthcoming Antelope Valley Line study, and the countywide Freight & Goods Movement Strategic Plan.
Financial_Impact
FINANCIAL IMPACT
This report is a response to Board inquiry on high-speed rail changes. There is no direct financial impact by this Receive and File report.
Implementation_of_Strategic_Plan_Goals
IMPLEMENTATION OF STRATEGIC PLAN GOALS
Recommendation supports strategic plan goals 1, 3 and 4. This receive and file supports Metro’s partnership with other rail operators to improve service reliability and mobility, provide better transit connections throughout the network and serves to implement the following specific strategic plan goals:
• Goal 1.2: Improve LA County’s overall transit network and assets;
• Goal 3.3: Genuine public and community engagement to achieve better mobility outcomes for the people of LA County; and
• Goal 4.1: Metro will work with partners to build trust and make decisions that support the goals of the Strategic Plan.
Alternatives_Considered
ALTERNATIVES CONSIDERED
The alternative would be for the Board not to receive this report. This is not recommended as this response was requested by the Board.
Next_Steps
NEXT STEPS
Staff will complete the Antelope Valley Line Study by June 2019 with recommendation for capital project advancements to be presented to the Metro Board for consideration in July 2019. Staff will continue to coordinate with Metrolink and CAHSR to advance the capital projects and seek funding for construction.
Attachments
ATTACHMENTS
Attachment A-1 - Metrolink’s Burbank to Anaheim Shovel-Ready Projects
Attachment A-2 - Metrolink’s Antelope Valley Line Capital Program
Attachment B - CAHSR’s Memorandum on Readiness in Response to Potential High-Speed Rail Changes
Prepared_by
Prepared by: Brian Balderrama, Senior Director, Regional Rail, (213) 418-3177
Jeanet Owens, Senior Executive Officer, Regional Rail (213) 418-3189
Reviewed_By
Reviewed by: Richard Clarke, Chief Program Management Officer, (213) 922-7557
