SCH Number 2009082062

Project Info

Title

California High-Speed Rail Project: Bakersfield to Palmdale Project Section Final Environmental Impact Report/Environmental Impact Statement

Description

The California High-Speed Rail Authority (Authority) certified a Statewide Program Environmental Impact Report/Environmental Impact Statement (EIR/EIS) (Tier 1) in November 2005 as the first phase of a tiered environmental review process for the proposed California High-Speed Rail (HSR) system planned to provide a reliable, high-speed, electric-powered rail system that links the major metropolitan areas of the state and that delivers predictable and consistent travel times. A further objective is to provide an interface with commercial airports, mass transit, and the highway network and to relieve capacity constraints of the existing transportation system as increases in intercity travel demand in California occur, in a manner sensitive to and protective of California’s unique natural resources. Based on the Program EIR/EIS, the Authority selected preferred corridors and station locations to advance for additional study. The Authority prepared a Draft EIR/EIS and Revised Draft EIR/Supplemental Draft EIS that further examined the Bakersfield to Palmdale Project Section at the project level (Tier 2), within Kern and Los Angeles counties. The proposed project is construction and operation of a grade-separated, dedicated double-track, electric powered, passenger, steel-wheel-on-steel-rail, high-speed railroad between Bakersfield and Palmdale, including a station in Bakersfield (approved by the Authority under CEQA in October 2018 and under NEPA in November 2019) and a station in Palmdale. The Bakersfield to Palmdale Project Section is approximately 80 miles in length and traverses valley, mountain, and high desert terrain, as well as urban, rural, and agricultural lands. From the north, this project section begins at the approved Bakersfield Station and travels south and southeast through the Tehachapi Mountains, then descends into the Antelope Valley, where it terminates approximately one mile south of the proposed Palmdale Station.

5 documents in project