California High Speed Rail defies Jerry Brown's letter

In considering an alternative to the downtown San Francisco terminus for the planned California High Speed Rail System, The California High Speed Rail Authority (CHSRA) is acting against a letter written by California Attorney General Jerry Brown.

The CHSRA has gained the anger of San Francisco Supervisor Chris Daly and residents and businesses around "The Beale Street Alternative", particularly the Rincon Hill Neighborhood Association.

The fear of homeowners is that their properties may be demolished to make way for High Speed Rail in the Rincon Hill Neighborhood area. As stated in the blog Rincon Hill Neighbors by "Jamie",

The remote possibility of the Authority choosing to build a second train station in the Rincon Hill neighborhood, in addition to the already in progress Transbay Transit Center which will extend Caltrain from 4th and King, leaves 424 condo units (disclosure – I own one of those units) in Rincon Hill and South Beach under the shadow of a remote possibility that they will need to be demolished in the future to make way for a high-speed rail station along Beale Street between Harrison and Mission Streets.

San Franciscans have always had the idea that High Speed Rail would be located in downtown San Francisco at the Transbay Terminal. It was to be the centerpiece of a $2 billion redevelopment plan. To that end, a design competition was held, where the competing designed were shown in San Francisco City Hall and a winner was selected. This video discusses the competition:



Now the CHSRA wants to include alternatives sites for study. In a letter dated December 28, 2009, California Attorney General Jerry Brown urged the High Speed Rail Authority not to consider any other site as an alternative and focus on the TransBay Terminal Terminus plan:

"..the Authority need not and cannot consider alternative that would displace the Transbay Terminal as a San Francisco High Speed Rail terminus."

The reason for this is the Attorney General asserts that when the voters approved Proposition 1A it was not intended to approve an action that would replace the Downtown Transbay Terminal plan. But even with the letter, the Beale Street Alternative continues to be active in the Authority's plans, much to the displeasure of Jerry Brown and many San Franciscans.

Stay tuned.