High Speed Rail Could Travel Along I-5

In a surprising move, yesterday the High Speed Rail Authority Board approved the start of a conceptual study of a route between Bakersfield and Los Angeles, an alignment that would follow Interstate 5. According to a the board, "this would be a feasible alternative along with the two Antelope Valley alignments being studied to connect Bakersfield to Los Angeles." In a statement, Roelof van Ark, CEO of the California High-Speed Rail Authority, said "the Grapevine route could offer some advantages by saving time, distance and cost." The LA Times also covers the hubbub, writing that a "Grapevine route poses its own engineering and seismic concerns, which was partly why it was rejected in the first place. They include negotiating the steep incline where I-5 drops into the Central Valley." [High Speed Rail Authority]