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10/13/2022
The California High-Speed Rail Authority announced yesterday it completed the Kent Avenue grade separation, the second structure to be built in Kings County.
The grade separation’s overcrossing is 215 feet long and 35 feet wide, taking traffic over the future high-speed rail track. Crews placed 12 pre-cast concrete girders, spanning 56 to 91 feet, to form the deck of the structure, CHSRA officials said in a press release.
The authority completed its first infrastructure project in Kings County, the Jackson Avenue grade separation, and the Avenue 15 grade separation in Madera County last month. CHSRA has awarded contracts to advance design along the Merced-to-Madera and Fresno-to-Bakersfield project sections.
Meanwhile, CHSRA has applied for $67 million in federal funding to expedite safety improvements at six grade crossings along the rail corridor.
With the funding, six crossings in Shafter that are owned by BNSF Railway Co. would receive grade separation structures.
If granted, the money would come from the Federal Railroad Administration’s fiscal-year 2022 Railroad Crossing Elimination Program.
CHSRA has a pending federal grant application for $1 billion to purchase new, clean electric trains capable of speeds over 200 mph. Those funds would also support advancing the design of the Bakersfield and Merced extensions and the construction of a full double-track system and stations along the 119-mile route, authority officials said.
More than 80% of the 500-mile route between San Francisco and Los Angeles has been environmentally cleared.