1. The Impact of California’s High Speed Rail
System on Sylmar
By:
Mariaelena Fuentes, Luis Salazar, Daisy Benicia, Daniel
Banuelos

2. A Brief History
● 1980s
○ Jerry Brown proposes a High
Speed Rail line connecting North
and South CA
● 1996
○ CAHSR Authority established
● 2008
○ Proposition 1A
■ $9.95 billion in bonds
approved to fund HSR
between Los Angeles-San
Francisco
■ 800 mile long track from
San Diego to Sacramento
● 2014
○ Current Estimated Cost: $56bil.

3. Current Status
● Construction is in its beginning phase in the Central Valley (Fresno to Bakersfield)
○ Tutor Perini
○ Service from Merced to San Fernando Valley estimated to begin in 2022
○ Completion of Phase 1 (LA-SF) of the HSR expected by 2029
○ No dates for Phase 2
● CNR Corporation, a state-owned Chinese enterprise, is looking to sell HSR trains to California
○ 18-20 trains
○ $45 million per trainset
● Palmdale-Burbank section of HSR accelerated in development
○ Proposed to Rail Board, could be adopted in less than a month (June 2014)
○ Affects Sylmar directly

4. Outline of the impacts
● Businesses
● Bike Path on San Fernando Road
● Traffic
● Single and Multi Family Housing
● Schools and Parks
● Safety
● Environment

5. Businesses
❖ Along San Fernando road Northeast
Roadway
➢ 14 industrial companies
➢ 12 automotive service or repair
shops
❖ Along San Fernando Road southwest
roadway
➢ 67 commercial stores
➢ 10 automotive service or repair
shops
➢ 9 industrial companies
❖ HSR Impacting Business
➢ Traffic
■ Interfering with major
intersection crossings.
■ Majority of commercial store
employees commute to work.
➢ Noise
■ Passing trains are a disturbance
already.
■ Complaints from business
owners and employees that
trains are too loud.

6. ● Phase 1 runs
from Roxford
St to Hubbard
St
● Phase 2 runs
from Branford
St to Wolfskill
St
● Phase 3 runs
from Brandford
St to
Hollywood
way/ Cohasset
St
San Fernando Bike Path

7. San Fernando Bike Path
Purpose of Bike Paths
● Safety: Segregated cycle facilities, are a
form of cycling infrastructure consisting of
marked lanes, tracks, shoulders and paths
designated for use by cyclist
● Pedestrian Friendly
● Health: Encourage walkability for a
healthy lifestyle
● Environment: Reduce car congestion

8. Negative Impacts of the HSR
● Right of way
● Lack of
connectivity
● Proposed
elevations
● No more bike
path

9. Map from LADOT
1) Handles Traffic Conditions
2) Traffic Flow
3) Lane Construction
4) Incident
5) Emergency or Closure
Congestion
1) School
2) Work
3) Home
4) Local Amenities
Traffic

10. Possibility of Dead End
Streets
The high-speed rail train can
interfere with streets
connecting and crossing with
San Fernando Road
Negative impacts of the HSR
on the San Fernando Road
Traffic on the HSR

11. Single Family/ Multi
Family Units
● Along the San Fernando Road
Northwest Roadway
○ 200 mobile homes
○ 314 single-housing units
○ 34 multi-housing units
● Along the San Fernando Road
Southwest Roadway
○ 62 mobile homes
○ 39 multi-housing units
Figure 5. Map of Sylmar. Retrieved November 6, 2014. Courtesy of Google Maps

12. How does the High
Speed Rail affect
residential areas?
● Potential Cul-de-sacs
○ Northwest San Fernando Road
○ Bradley Avenue
○ Emergency Vehicle Accessibility
Figure 6. Map of Sylmar. Retrieved November 6, 2014. Courtesy of Google Maps

13. ● Effect on property value
○ There are two arguments regarding public transit systems and property values:
■ Properties close to rails may increase due to the fact that there is a stop in that area
(Wardripp, 2011).
■ Property value may decrease because of the noise, traffic and pollution associated with transit
systems (Wardripp, 2011).
How does the High Speed Rail affect residential
areas?

14. Equestrian
and Parks
● Stetson Ranch
● Carey Ranch Park
● Telfair Park
Figure 7. Map of Sylmar Community Structure. Courtesy of Sylmar Community Plan from the Los Angeles Department of City Planning.

15. K-Crossings
Figure 8. Map of Sylmar Trail System. Courtesy of Sylmar Community Plan from the Los Angeles Department of City Planning.

16. Schools
There are 2 schools
less than a mile from
the high speed rail:
● El Dorado
Avenue
Elementary
School
● Osceola Street
Elementary
School
Figure 9. Map of Sylmar Public Facilities. Courtesy of Sylmar Community Plan from the Los Angeles Department of City Planning.

17. Environmental Impacts
● Air Quality
○ Positive impact
○ Freight trucks absent from
environmental impact
■ Large Diesel Trucks
are a major source of
Pollution, congestion,
and Accidents
■
● Sound
○ Less Noise than
conventional freight trains
■ 80-90 Decibels (dB)
at 100 ft.
○ 4 sec. travel time through
a point vs. 60 sec. freight
trains
○ No planned operations
from Midnight - 5am
○ Sound Wall

18. Safety
Emergency Response
● LAPD - Mission Hills
● LAFD - Foothill
● Holy Cross Medical Center
○ No Planned Response
Earthquake Procedures
● No emergency plans for CAHSR yet
○ Follow Procedures and incidents with HSR in earthquake prone areas (Japan)
● California Earthquake Prone
○ Sylmar Earthquake, February 1971
○ Northridge Earthquake, January 1994
● Only one HSR train derailed due to earthquakes
○ Japan, 2004
● UrEDAS
○ Early response system
● France
○ Custom Built Trains

19. Community Survey
● Background
● Equestrian
● Parks
● Schools
● Transportation
● High Speed Rail

20. Methods
● 47 participants
● Locations
○ Businesses
○ Churches
○ Schools
○ Apartment Complexes

25. ● Noise Level
● Traffic
● Safety
● Do not want HSR to pass through Sylmar
○ Do not want major intersections to be impacted
Community’s Response

26. Possible Alternatives
Proposed Stop in Sylmar
● A stop in Sylmar/San Fernando Station would benefit
Sylmar by raising home value and rent due to its
proximity
● It may also bring in more residents as well for the same
reasons
● It is common for cars, pedestrians and cyclists to cross
the rail track. In this situation, there should be traffic
light control and an automatic gate for safety.
Antonovich Proposal
● Pass Palmdale to Burbank section of HSR through San
Gabriel Mountains, Angeles National Forest
● Opposition
○ Sun Valley
○ Sunland - Tujunga
○ LaTuna Canyon
○ Shadow Hills
○ Lake View Terrace

27. Antonovich Proposal
● Prevents disruption of Bike Paths
● Prevents Interference with Traffic
● No decrease in Property Values
Official Recommendation

28. Works Cited
“California High Speed Rail.” Hatch Mott MacDonald. n.p. , n.d. Web. 29 Oct 2014.
“California Proposition 1A, High Speed Rail Act (2008).” Ballotpedia. n.p., n.d. Web. 29 Oct 2014.
“Central Valley: ‘Backbone’ of the High Speed Rail.” California High Speed Rail Authority. California High Speed Rail Authority.
May 2013. Web. 29 Oct 2014.
Goh, Brenda. “China Wants to Sell High-Speed Trains to California.” Business Insider. Business Insider. 21 Oct 2014. Web. 29
Oct
2014.
"High-Speed Rail Environmental Benefits." Environmental Benefits. California High Speed Rail Authority, 2017. Web. 29 Oct.
2014.
Lipkin, Boris and Ben Tripousis. “What’s Happening with California’s High Speed Rail System.” Spur. Spur. 20 May 2014. Web.
29 Oct 2014.
"Significant Earthquakes and Faults." Southern California Earthquake Data Center at Caltech. CalTech, 31 Jan. 2013. Web. 12 Nov. 2014.
Vartabedian, Ralph. "Burbank-Palmdale Segment Added to Bullet Train Timetable." Los Angeles Times. Los Angeles Times, 30
June 2014. Web. 29 Oct. 2014.
Wardrip, Keith. “Public Transit’s Impact on Housing Costs: A Review of the Literature” Insights from Housing Policy Research.
Web. 29 Oct. 2014
Sylmar Community Plan. Los Angeles Department of City Planning. April 2013.