Gilroy Envisioning Transit Hub Round California Excessive-Pace Rail Cease – CBS San Francisco

GILROY (KPIX 5) — California’s high-speed rail project is moving ahead with the approval of the San Jose-to-Merced section by way of Gilroy.

The approval by the state High-Speed ​​Rail Authority board of directors was cheered by Gilroy officials who envisioned building a transit hub around the rail stop.

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“I believe this will be transformative for the Gilroy community,” said Mayor Marie Blankley.

The approved alignment for the San Jose-to-Merced segment which will take tracks through the Gilroy station, before heading across Pacheco Pass into the Central Valley.

“This will be a connector for bus and rail to Monterey, to the east, to San Jose and it’s going to really help people who are going to be needing transportation to get to jobs as we increase the housing supply in California,” Blankley said .

Gilroy resident James Suner says it all looks good on paper.

“It would be like having an airport terminal in town, it acts as a hub, brings in transit-oriented development and would be a catalyst for the next century for Gilroy,” he said.

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But given the high-speed rail project’s history, Suner is skeptical it will actually happen.

Although construction of rail infrastructure is ongoing in the Central Valley, there are no firm plans for when the San Jose-Gilroy-Pacheco Pass segments would be built.

“High-speed rail is the biggest boondoggle in the history of the state,” Suner said.

Others like bike shop owner Ro Gaeta are hopeful that it will help make Gilroy more of a destination.

“We’re just a little bit of a secret town that people know as for the Garlic Festival, but I think that would be a plus for this town if it actually happens, and it sounds like it eventually will,” Gaeta said.

Mayor Blankley said she’s been told to expect pre-construction activity to begin sometime within the next two years.

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