California High-Speed Rail Authority issues EIR for Fresno-Bakersfield segment

The California High-Speed Rail Authority's board will host a meeting later this month to accept public comment on the final supplemental environmental impact report (EIR) for the Fresno-to-Bakersfield section of the state's high-speed rail system.

The authority announced late last week that the final supplemental EIR is now available. It represents a "comprehensive project-level review of the southern part of the section that runs between Poplar Avenue in Shafter and a station location in downtown Bakersfield," authority officials said in a press release.

The EIR evaluates the locally generated alternative, which extends from Shafter east toward State Route 99 and the existing Union Pacific Railroad tracks, then southward into Bakersfield, ending at a station location on F Street in downtown Bakersfield.

The document then compares the locally generated alternative to the alignment in the area previously studied in 2014.

The Oct. 16 board meeting will be held at Bakersfield City Hall.