Judge Quentin Kopp, who was appointed to the state’s High Speed Rail Authority board in 2006, calls lawsuits attempting to stop the line from running up the Peninsula frivolous.
Sacramento County Superior Court Judge Michael Kenny is expected to rule on a lawsuit this Friday whether to require the rail authority to reconsider running trains through the Altamont Pass rather than Pacheco Pass, as the authority approved in 2007.
The plaintiffs in that suit include the cities of Menlo Park and Atherton as well as three environmental groups — the Planning and Conservation League, Transdef and the Bay Rail Alliance.
Menlo Park and Atherton joined the suit but are not responsible for any legal fees — the environmental groups agreed to foot the bill to prevent high-speed rail trains from operating on the Peninsula.
Another lawsuit was filed last week by a Menlo Park resident who says the Joint Powers Authority, which owns the train tracks from San Jose to San Francisco, has no power to make deals with the rail authority. That power, Russell Peterson claims in his lawsuit, belongs to the Union Pacific Railroad, the former owner of the tracks.
The Caltrain tracks were bought by the Joint Powers Authority in the early 1990s from Union Pacific with the condition Union Pacific could run freight on the tracks at night.
“That lawsuit is a joke. I have never seen such a joke,” said Kopp, who concedes Union Pacific does have a veto right over any other uses on the track.
“Union Pacific is not objecting to the use,” Kopp said.
Since none of the plaintiffs asked the court for temporary injunctions to stop the project, the lawsuits will effectively have no impact on the pace of the project’s completion, which Kopp said could ideally be constructed sometime in 2014.
“The lawsuits don’t hang you up,” Kopp said.
The plaintiffs won’t seek temporary injunctions because they would be required to secure a bond in case they do not win their cases, Kopp said.
“Those bonds could be in the millions or even billions,” Kopp said.
The debate on high-speed rail hits Menlo Park tonight as U.S. Rep. Anna Eshoo, D-Palo Alto holds a town hall meeting on the subject.
The Peninsula Cities Consortium is also holding a study session on the issue this Friday in Palo Alto. The consortium was formed in January and is comprised of city councilmembers from Palo Alto, Burlingame, Belmont and other cities on the Peninsula.
The consortium was formed because each city the high-speed trains pass through have unique downtowns and characteristics, said the consortium’s chair Yoriko Kishimoto, who is also a Palo Alto councilwoman.
“If money were no object, a tunnel would be great to bury the noise and traffic underground,” Kishimoto said. “Assuming it comes up the Peninsula, it needs to fit in with the fabric of the community.”
Burlingame Councilwoman Terry Nagel also sits on the consortium.
“Our Burlingame City Council favors undergrounding high-speed rail through our town,” Nagel said. “Of course, it would be even better if it ran through Oakland and Berkeley.”
Belmont Councilwoman Coralin Feierbach is an alternate board member on the consortium. She speculated that when voters approved the $9 billion Measure 1A bond for high-speed rail last year most people assumed the line would run up the East Bay.
“That’s what my husband thought,” Feierbach said. She also questioned whether the Pacheco Pass was the right pick due to environmental concerns.
But Kopp contends every phase of the project, including all environmental impact reports, have passed the muster with the California Environmental Quality Act and the National Environmental Policy Act.
“Besides, it’s high-speed rail from San Diego to San Francisco — not Oakland,” Kopp said.
The line will have no more than 24 stations in total and Palo Alto, Redwood City and Millbrae are on the list for a station.
“Although, it’s possible there might not be a station on the Peninsula at all,” Kopp said.
Eshoo’s town hall meeting on high-speed rail is tonight at 7 p.m., Menlo Park City Council chambers, 701 Laurel St. The Peninsula Cities Consortium next meets Friday, 8 a.m., Palo Alto Council chambers, 250 Hamilton St. The group’s Web site is http://www.peninsularail.com/.
Bill Silverfarb can be reached by e-mail: silverfarb@smdailyjournal.com or by phone: (650) 344-5200 ext. 106.
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