Some Gilroy residents showed up in droves to the Gilroy City Council meeting Monday to express their ire at a potential California High-Speed Rail route aligned with Highway 101 east of Gilroy.
The California High-Speed Rail Authority discussed various potential routes for the train during a study session, including a route that ran downtown, a route that ran adjacent to Highway 101 and a newly proposed route that ran further east of the highway.
More than 30 residents from rural areas north and east of Gilroy told California High-Speed Rail Authority officials that they should keep the train out of their area.
"I am disturbed about this belief that if we can't make it work in the city of Gilroy, we'll just move it out to our country cousins," Gilroy resident Jeff Amstutz said.
The 800-mile California High Speed Rail system, expected to begin operations in 2020, is slated to have routes from San Diego to Sacramento and to the Bay Area, transporting passengers at speeds of up to 220 mph. A 123-mile stretch from Merced to San Jose would run through the Pacheco Pass with a proposed station in Gilroy. The entire rail project is estimated to cost $45 billion.
Monday's study session was one of several that high-speed rail authority officials have hosted in the Gilroy council chambers. However, it was the first study session to attract a large crowd from Gilroy's unincorporated areas.
Representatives from the California High-Speed Rail Authority showed a computer-animated presentation of various potential train routes, some of which elicited groans from many residents as they pointed to portions that would run near or through their homes, many of which were near Masten Avenue.
David Wemmer, infrastructure engineering manager for the segment of the project that includes Gilroy, said the computer-animated routes that were displayed Monday are sure to change.
"These alignments are still in development," he said. "If you see a house by a colored line it may not end up by a colored line," he added, making reference to the colored routes that appeared on the projection screen.
Still, those words served as little consolation to most attendees.
"I'm appalled at what is going on and what is about to happen," Gilroy resident Yvonne Saucedo said. "It is going to happen in our lifetime, and it's terribly irresponsible."
Attendees applauded as speaker after speaker expressed concern about the impact of the project on rural life. Many of them shook their heads as they looked at the animated route.
Mayor Al Pinheiro questioned Monday whether the cost of placing the train east of Gilroy would be substantially cheaper than running it through town. However, high-speed rail representatives indicated that would not be the case. Property costs only make up about 5 percent to 10 percent of the total project, they said, and moving the tracks to rural areas likely would only affect the cost by about 5 percent. By contrast, trenching the railroad tracks could increase the cost of the project by about 30 percent.
Councilman Bob Dillon, who has opposed the project from the very beginning, said that the California High-Speed Rail Authority ultimately would make a decision on the project route regardless of the council's desires.
Still, attendees said the council needed to do all that it could to make the project acceptable to Gilroy - and for them that meant keeping it out of the rural areas.
"I think if people who voted for this knew what it was going to be, they would not have voted for it," Gilroy resident Elaine Jelsema said.
Despite the tense reception toward the high-speed rail project, regional project manager Gary Kennerley said he was encouraged to see the large turnout.
"(The word) is getting out to the unincorporated area," he said.
Jonathan Partridge Jonathan Partridge is a staff writer for the Gilroy Dispatch.
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