California High-Speed Rail Authority (CHSRA) and the City of Millbrae have reached a settlement agreement in the City’s lawsuit regarding high-speed rail in Millbrae. The move comes two months after the Federal Railroad Administration, at the direction of Secretary of Transportation Sean P. Duffy, initiated a review of CHSRA to “help determine whether roughly $4 billion in taxpayer money should remain committed to the proposed project to build high-speed rail in the California Central Valley between Merced and Bakersfield.”
The settlement includes a framework for how the City and CHSRA “will work together moving forward,” according to their April 17 announcement. Among the items the partners said they agreed upon are:
- The City and CHSRA “will collaborate on ultimate station access issues to ensure travel to and from Millbrae’s future high-speed rail station will be smooth and seamless for pedestrians, vehicles and all other modes of transit.”
- The City “will lead the land use and planning efforts on the west side of the station to guide future transit-oriented development (TOD), consistent with revisions to the Millbrae Station Area Specific Plan that will also allow for future high-speed rail.”
- CHSRA “will lead the design of its proposed high-speed rail station addition to the existing intermodal Millbrae station.”
- The City and CHSRA “will involve one another in their respective planning to ensure integrated TOD with a future high-speed rail station.”
Millbrae is centrally located on the San Francisco Peninsula in San Mateo County, and is connected through San Francisco International Airport, Bay Area Rapid Transit, SamTrans, and Caltrain (download map below; courtesy of BART). According to the City, the “entire Millbrae Station Area has several approved and constructed transit-orient developments that include retail, office, life sciences, hotel and market-rate and affordable residential housing.” These projects, it said, further complement the area and provide additional housing, shopping, dining, and entertainment options.
Millbrae Mayor Anders Fung told the San Mateo Daily Journal that “[t]he settlement today represents our agreement … that we maintain the west side of the station in terms of our land use control so that we can further guide the future development … High-speed rail will get the land that they need in order to build out their rails, their tracks and the future stations.”
In the City and CHSRA’s April 17 announcement, Fung called the agreement “a momentous milestone for Millbrae.” It represents, he said, “our commitment to realizing our true potential—where high quality public transit integrates with housing and economic development to energize the future of a thriving city. Millbrae is committed to working with anyone and everyone who respects us and comes to us an equal partner. This partnership will ensure the success of both Millbrae and California High-Speed Rail as we work toward realizing the most important intermodal station in the western United States.”
“This agreement reflects our continued commitment to collaboration with local partners like the City of Millbrae,” CHSRA CEO Ian Choudri noted in the announcement. “It helps accelerate our path to bringing high-speed rail into the Bay Area—unlocking opportunity, mobility, and economic growth through fast, clean, and affordable transportation.”
“Transit-oriented development to the east of the Millbrae BART station is one of the reasons for the City’s current economic vitality, and this agreement prioritizes transit-oriented development for the west side of the station sooner rather than later,” Millbrae City Manager Tom Williams commented in the announcement.
CHSRA last fall reported settling the City of Brisbane’s lawsuit regarding the high-speed rail project. They agreed to “collaborate on seeking funding opportunities that have a nexus to the public health and safety of the Brisbane Baylands”; that CHSRA “will study and propose for approval a revision to its high-speed rail light maintenance facility (LMF) that reduces the footprint by more than 50 acres, avoids City infrastructure and facilities, and adheres to other specific design criteria”; that the City “will study in sufficient detail and propose for approval an alternative in its Baylands Specific Plan EIR that avoids the land use conflicts between the LMF and the proposed Baylands Project”; and that CHSRA and the City “will collaborate on the aesthetic design of the LMF.”
CHSRA has begun work to extend the 119 miles under construction to 171 miles of electrified high-speed rail from Merced to Bakersfield. According to the Authority’s 2025 Project Update Report, environmental clearance is complete for the full San Francisco-to-Los Angeles route, enabling preliminary engineering in the south; one of three major civil construction packages in the Central Valley is substantially complete, with new grade separations “already improving safety and reducing congestion”; and railhead construction has begun in Kern County, marking the transition to track laying and system installation.
Further Reading:
- Whither (Wither?) California High-Speed Rail (Reprise)
- CHSRA: Public Scoping Process Set for Central Valley PV/BESS Project
- California High-Speed Rail Investment Generates $22B in Economic Activity
- Madera High-Speed Rail Station Project Lands $54.5MM Grant
- CHSRA Shortlists Alstom, Siemens as Potential Suppliers
