Local Rail Study Will Start with Spanish-Language Workshop

A Spanish-language workshop will be the first step for a team of consultants who will spend the next five months researching a vision for the future of high speed rail in Gilroy.

The Berkeley-based planning firm, Design, Community & Environment (DC&E), stresses a focus on sustainability and won the $200,000 contract over 14 other candidates after the City Council approved its hiring last week.

A special $150,000 grant to Gilroy from the Santa Clara Valley Transportation Authority (VTA) helped to pay for the consultant.

“We’re going to work closely with the community to develop a comprehensive vision for that station,” said Jeff Williams, project manager for the study.

Over the next few months, the team from DC&E will join city staff in developing a “vision report” that will pass through the City Council before being presented to the California High-Speed Rail Authority, said Williams.

While the California High-Speed Rail Authority will have the final say on the nature of the project, Gilroy's city transportation engineer said during the council’s meeting last week that preparing a well-researched suggestion would go far in influencing the decision.

“If the city of Gilroy doesn’t make that determination, then high-speed rail will make that determination for us,” said Don Dey, city transportation engineer.

This is the second high-speed rail project that Williams has worked on for DC&E, after a station study in Burbank, he said. The firm has worked on numerous other projects, from city-wide general plans to bus shelters for transit agencies.

The upcoming community meetings, including the Spanish workshop in April and an English-language “community kickoff” in May, will be the first step in the process for the eight consultants assigned to the project, said Williams.

David Early, president and founder of the 15-year-old firm, is a specialist in public outreach and will be personally involved throughout the process, Williams said.

One of the early priorities for the meetings will be to establish several values that describe “what Gilroy is all about,” said Williams. Those values would guide the rest of the visioning process.

“The focus on Gilroy is what separates this process from the other high-speed rail meetings that have happened so far,” said the project manager.

Two station options are under consideration for Gilroy: one near the current downtown Caltrain stop, and the other in an area of unincorporated land near the Gilroy Premium Outlets. Authorities estimate that the stretch of rail between Los Angeles and San Francisco would be completed by 2020.

The downtown option would fit into an area already configured around a train station, while the east option would have room to build a new transit-oriented development, said transportation engineer Dey.

Over the next few months, city staff will work with the consultants from DC&E to study the impacts—and opportunities—at each site, according to the project manager.

“Don Dey is really running the show,” said Williams.

One of the first factors the group will study is the so-called “vertical alignment” of the tracks, including the options of running the train at ground level, on a suspended line or through a trench, said Williams.

Following that determination, the firm will ultimately present a handful of proposals to the public, including visual simulations and a study of both current and future issues with development and land use. In the end, a single proposal will go before the City Council, the project manager said.

“One of the things we want to do is work to build a consensus within the community,” said Williams.

Yet compared with other projects of this scale, time is short. Williams said the firm is working faster than usual to present a proposal to the rail authority before the agency moves forward with plans in Gilroy.

“There is a lot of work to do in a very short time,” he said.

The upcoming meetings will be at the , 7371 Hannah St. The first, a Spanish-language meeting, will be on April 28 at 6:30 p.m., and an English-language meeting will be May 9 at 6:30 p.m.

“We’re trying to get as broad a slice of the community as we can to come out and say what they think this vision should be,” said Williams, inviting those who’ve never been to a rail meeting to attend.

Correction: The original version of this article said DC&E won the bid over 15 other firms. In fact, DC&E was one of 15 firms that submitted an application. The article has been changed to reflect the correction.