Metro and Caltrans announce public meetings for the proposed 63-mile High Desert Corridor project

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The news release from the two agencies is below. Measure R is paying for the enviornmental studies for the proposed freeway between Palmdale and Highway 18; the project still needs to secure funding in order to be built. Bike lanes adjacent to the freeway are also now being considered.

Here's the release:

The High Desert Corridor project — which is considering a new freeway connecting Highway 14 in Los Angeles County to Highway 18 in San Bernardino County – is evolving to consider a bike path, a green energy production/transmission corridor, and a high-speed rail feeder service connector.

The Los Angeles County Metropolitan Transportation Authority (Metro) and the State of California Department of Transportation (Caltrans) are hosting four community update meetings for the High Desert Corridor (HDC) project on Dec. 5, 6, 10 and 11.

For those unable to attend a meeting in person, the meetings on Dec. 10 and 11 will be streamed live, making the meeting available for viewing and accessible for online public participation. Link directly at: ustream.tv/channel/metro-high-desert-corridor

The new freeway/expressway connection between Antelope Valley and Victor Valley would link some of the fastest residential, commercial and industrial growth areas in Southern California, including the cities of Palmdale, Lancaster, Adelanto, Victorville and the Town of Apple Valley. In addition to addressing the issue of growth, the HDC project will address traffic safety and support the growing need to move goods through the region.

Based on the feedback received at previous meetings and further technical analysis, the project team will present updates on potential alignments, variations, and next steps. The meetings are scheduled as follows:

• Wednesday, December 5, from 6 to 8 p.m., at the Lake Los Angeles Elementary School, located at 16310 East Avenue Q, Palmdale, CA 93591

• Thursday, December 6, from 6 to 8 p.m., at the Stater Brothers Stadium, Mavericks Conference Room, 12000 Stadium Way, Adelanto, CA 92301

• Monday, December 10, from 6 to 8 p.m., at the Endeavour School of Exploration, located at 12403 Ridgecrest Road in Victorville, CA 92395 (This meeting to be streamed live at: ustream.tv/channel/metro-high-desert-corridor)

• Tuesday, December 11, from 6 to 8 p.m., at the Larry Chimbole Cultural Center, Joshua Room, located at 38350 Sierra Highway in Palmdale, CA 93350 (This meeting to be streamed live at: ustream.tv/channel/metro-high-desert-corridor

Content presented at these meetings will be identical and in the following format: Open house session from 6 to 6:30 p.m.; presentations from 6:30 to 7:30 p.m., and questions and comments from 7:30 to 8 p.m.

The latest project developments include the designation of the HDC as a Strategic Multipurpose Corridor. The designation, approved by the Metro Board of Directors in March 2012 expands the scope of the 63-mile corridor to potentially accommodate a highway, a green energy production and/or transmission facility, and a high speed rail feeder service line with potential connections to the Metrolink station in Palmdale and an XpressWest station in Victorville.

The proposed 63-mile corridor under study is currently in the Draft Environmental Impact Statement/Environmental Impact Report (Draft EIS/EIR) preparation phase, which began in late 2010. The Draft EIS/EIR is expected to be available for public review in late 2013.

To review the details of the project area, check out the High Desert Corridor Interactive Map at metro.net. (http://interactive.metro.net/projects/high-desert-corridor/)

For additional background and information, a copy of the Alternatives Analysis Report is available online at http://www.metro.net/projects_studies/hdc/images/HDC_Alternatives_Analysis.pdf and a live webinar of a discussion on the status of the High Desert Corridor study presented Nov. 4, 2011, can reviewed online at http://www.ustream.tv/recorded/18305407.

Special accommodations are available to the public for Metro-sponsored meetings. All requests for reasonable accommodations must be made at least three working days (72 hours) in advance of the scheduled meeting date. Telephone the project information line at 888.252.7433 or call the California Relay Service at 711. The TDD line for hearing-impaired is 800.252.9040.

Follow us on Twitter @metrohdc and facebook.com/metrohdc. For more information, call 888.252.7433 or visit www.metro.net/hdc.

Para información en español, llame al 888.252.7433.

 

Categories: Projects

9 replies ›

  1. Maybe merge both AVTA and VVTA into 1 system calling it UDTA (U-pper D-esert T-ransit A-uthority) renumbering their routes like LACMTA does. Both L.A. and San Bernardino counties would be funding this combined system and would assure that you would be able to go to/from Antelope Valley and Victor Valley without going the round about ways. This is possible because look at Bi-State transit of St. Louis Missouri their system is funded both from Missouri and Illinois since Bi-State serves both sides of the Mississippi.

  2. More freeways?! Why the fudge?
    They cost money to build, the cost more to maintain and all they do is encourage more sprawl and more pollution.
    This measure R money is better used on things like passenger rail (perhaps elsewhere, since Palmdale et al) are already served, and fixing roads that already exist – not building more and encouraging traffic.

  3. HSR & Bike highway would be cool, we can’t assume no one won’t use it unless it is actually built. Money for a bike corridor like that would be of better use where biking is catching on rather than way out in the desert. The best thing to do here is make room for High Speed Rail & the Xpresswest project, so a connection from Victorville to Palmdale will be easy and non-controversial. It makes perfect sense and there is more then enough room out there for one. The thing i fear most from the highway project is more sprawl. I’m tired of seeing communities be built wayyyy to far from job centers, and rather see developers encouraged to build nicer mixed used projects closer to the city & near transit, rather then these far flung deserts. I know not everyone wants to live in dense mixed developments, but not everyone needs acres of land and a huge house in hot weather either.

  4. It’s about time. This type of service is desparately needed to those living in the High Desert.

  5. Really, a bike path? Just build the fwy ASAP or it will cost more down the road. HSR Connector? What for? Just more expense for nothing. Connect the two freeways and be done with it.

  6. I hope that this time around, both Caltrans & Metro will connect the new high speed rail feeder service to between the Victoville Victor Valley Transit Center in the east and one of the Metrolink Stations at the west end.
    I hope that they will not repeat their foolish mistakes with the 105 Freeway / Green Line Project. Connections to nowhere on both ends of the 105 Freeway and light rail.

  7. “a high speed rail feeder service line with potential connections to the Metrolink station in Palmdale and an XpressWest station in Victorville.”

    ” the HDC project will address traffic safety and support the growing need to move goods through the region.”

    That sounds great but, is there room to add more rail lines for cargo transportation too? A rail line from the ports to the high desert via palmdale would reduce track traffic on the 710/210 Freeways.