Kings County updates- HSR station / Bastille

-September 36,2019-

Around Kings County

The California High Speed Rail Authority has requested that Kings County and the City of Hanford consider and concur with the location of the proposed Kings-Tulare Regional Station. The station will be located just east of Hwy 43 and the roundabout and north of Hwy 198.

Looking to save money and shorten the process CHSRA has been requesting changes to the most recent plan that would have required lowering the Cross Valley(UP) tracks to accommodate the HSR platform above. Now they will elevate that platform higher where the station itself is to be located.

County and city staff met with representatives of the California High Speed Rail Authority August 23, 2019 .HSR staff requested concurrence with a proposal to elevate the rail and the station platform some 24 feet above ground level, while keeping the Station north of the UP tracks. HSR staff cited excessive costs to both mitigate environmental impacts and to lower the UP tracks as the reason for this requested change. But City and County staff requested consideration of locating the station south of the UP tracks as a condition to concurring to this proposal.

HSR staff then presented the design concept. The proposed Station location is outlined in red, and the train platform is in blue. The Station would be south of the UP tracks, and the platform would straddle the HSR tracks and extend over the at-grade UP tracks.

A staff report says “Timing of an agreement is crucial so that the HSR contractor will not be working on parallel design concepts.” City and County staff proposed that HSR provide a written description of what is being proposed, including access to Lacey Blvd, access to the roundabout at SR43, location and size of parking facilities, etc.

City Community Development Director Darlene Mata says discussions continue but as of yet there is no final agreement.

Discussion are still underway but there appears to a new era regards plans for high speed rail in Kings County now that the decade long litigation is behind them.

The City of Avenal has approved a plan by O’Reilly Auto Parts to construct a new retail store in this Kings County town.The store would be on State Route 269.

On September 24 the Hanford Planning Commission approved the sale of two Downton city owned properties judged to be surplus by the city. The commission approved a sale notice for the Mechanics bank building ( Rabobank) which was formerly the city post office. The building is likely to continue to be a bank says a staff report

Secondly they approved a sale notice for the historic Bastille building across the street, pointing out it needs considerable upgrading to be put back into use.The building had been the subject of negotiations in the past by Barrelhouse Brewing but a potential deal fell through. BarrelHouse owners who hail from Lemoore have told the press they now want open in Fresno to add to their SLO and Visalia locations.

Kings County reported a jobless rate of 7% in August 2019, up from August 2018  when it was 6.7%. California had a rate of 4.2%.