As part of the EIR process, station area plans have been published by the CA High-Speed Rail Authority for Fresno and Bakersfield (“California High-Speed Rail Fresno-Bakersfield Segment, Part III, Section E“).
Here is a rendering of the Bakersfield design (there are several variations, all following the same template). You should click the image to enlarge.
And here is a Fresno rending. For a downtown location, the Fresno station sure has an abundance of surface parking (parking areas highlighted in orange, the station footprint in yellow).
These designs are very underwhelming. They are so retrograde, it is as if Parsons Brinckerhoff had thawed out 1960’s BART engineers from cryogenic hibernation.
The bike/ped access is especially bad. A simple metric for bike/ped accessibility is the walking distance from platform to street. For some destinations, it isn’t too arduous — but for other directions the travel is circuitous. Visitors must cross acres of parking (not to mention the fare gates and possible TSA baggage screening) to reach the street. The Bakersfield design is especially lacking because the station would be grade-separated over a roadway, and yet no effort was made to exploit that. Really, the only direct route from platform to street is the emergency staircase.
The bike parking is also problematic because no thought was given to inside-the-station secure bike parking. Indeed, bike racks and lockers are relegated to obscure locations, away from foot traffic (making for easy theft). The lack of secure parking is inexcusable as the stations don’t lack for space. Approx. 1,000 sq-ft is allocated for a telecommunications and “station computer” center (if this high-speed rail thing doesn’t work out, perhaps Google can use the facility for a data center).
Since the stations are situated along the existing freight rail tracks, long pedestrian overcrossings were included; however, the design of the overcrossings is bizarre. Take a look at this view of the Bakersfield station, and note how the freight overcrossing doesn’t line up with the high-speed rail platform. To exit the station, one must go down, then up, then down again!
A similar problem exists for Fresno station. The tracks are at-grade, and the west entrance is at-grade, but passengers must go up and down again — because the fare gates are in the upper level concourse:
So what can be done differently? For starters, we can look to these guys for inspiration…
After having spent the past two weekends having to transfer at Millbrae between BART and Caltrain, I’m convinced that HSR stations are going to be designed just as poorly and atrociously. And the minute anything smacking of airport style security gets added (I’m trying really hard to think of what apologists would say to defend that practice) really is the death knell of HSR in California.
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If they are designed poorly it is because of a lack of FUNDS not a lack of desire to have world class facilities….but hey, we have aircraft carriers sitting idle and unrivaled for 60 years.
A lack of funds, srsly? Considering that HSR has already cost close to a billion without a mile of track laid and is projected to cost many hundreds of billions.
This is why we spend $10 for a $1 system. Simple straightforward design for raised ROW. Raise BNSF too. build all of station services ground level mostly underneath ROW. ADA compliant ramps (visit LA Union for an example) from a tunnel concourse perpendicular to the tracks. Parking can also be under the ROW further each way from the actual station. We have built stations like this before, we can do it again. Worst case assign the current designers to read John A Droege Passenger Terminals and Trains
http://www.google.com/url?sa=t&rct=j&q=john%20a%20droege&source=web&cd=1&ved=0CE4QFjAA&url=http%3A%2F%2Fbooks.google.com%2Fbooks%2Fabout%2FPassenger_Terminals_and_Trains.html%3Fid%3DAu5_AAAAMAAJ&ei=68wNUNbsL6i42QXHkIGADw&v6u=http%3A%2F%2Fs-v6exp1-ds.metric.gstatic.com%2Fgen_204%3Fip%3D68.121.111.222%26ts%3D1343081708202805%26auth%3Dra65gwimwzx5svfib5zaxalxbtokbwvd%26rndm%3D0.9734702000860125&v6s=2&v6t=29023&usg=AFQjCNEDP3GuAeCDsYUkr-mIJB_uNkEcMw
Very little other than building energy efficiency and ADA requirements have changed. Train stations are not a new idea.
Bingo.
“Simple straightforward design for raised ROW. Raise BNSF too.”
$$$$$$$.
BNSF, like the other class Is, will demand an elevated driveway parallel to the tracks for their occasional maintenance-of-way trucks to drive down. The bridges will also have to carry very, very large weights.
Oh, it’s a decent idea to raise BNSF too. Of course it is. But it would be unreasonable to fund it out of high-speed-rail funds. It’s much more expensive than it looks.
Bakersfield officials, Kern Co. Supes now oppose downtown HSR
http://www.fresnobee.com/2012/07/23/2919867/delay-sought-on-bakersfield-high.html
I sent comments to the CHSRA, during the comment period, pointing out all these terrible misdesigns.
Did you send your comments?
I believe you’re mistaken about Fresno, however. Look more carefully at the design; there appear to be direct at-grade faregates from the west side.
And a lot of the Fresno parking is “existing parking”.
It’s actually the only one of the designs which is half-decent, although like all of them it suffers from side platforms at a four-track station (srsly?).
[…] months ago, I outlined the many bike/ped access problems in the Fresno HSR Station Plans. It appears Fresno city planners have the same […]