How many more must die on Caltrain's HSR surrogate tracks? What can we do?
What we can do is fight to pressure the respective Democrat-controlled city/town councils along the Peninsula Rail Corridor to bring far safer, grade-separated--by law! to replace this 1864 (US Civil War, once Rural) trackway with electrified, quieter, more frequent, high-farebox recovery BART down the Peninsula. I've been doing this for the past 4 years, ever since a grandfather of 5 that I used to see in the supermarket was killed by a Caltrain, similar to the latest one near blossom Hill. Since I've been begging the city councils (right after many deaths occur) to open talks to extend BART and close the BART Around The Bay loop for safety in 2011--60 have died. Also, demand at tonight's (most Mondays) 6:pm Palo Alto Council meeting that Palo Alto join the Atherton lawsuit against Caltrain-HSR Electrification as they cited multiple similar safety issues that are built-in to the Caltrain-HSR surface trackway. Remember, Caltrain tracks are the designated HSR trackway since 1995--13 years before the deceptive, unconstitutional ballot 2008 vote for Prop 1A HSR. (KCBS "Indepth" interview with CHSRA Chair Dan Richard, January 11, 2015: Gov. Jerry Brown, "...working for 30 years to bring HSR to California." Face the Nation interview with Bob Schiefer, 2012 (Caltrain was started in with Gov Brown funding in 1982) ).
Worse yet, the election of Sacramento Democrat machine puppets Liz Kniss and Sen. Hill's coy Cory Wolback have created a pro-HSR majority on the all-Democrat PA CC, so only public pressure from locals, esp. Democrat citizens, *might* get them to buck Sacramento's powerful Democrat machine--Peninsula Lives Matter!!!. These kids and the 218 who have died on Caltrain's tracks since the 1995 decision by Sacto's CHSRA to use these tracks (same size as HSR, unlike BART's different track width). If HSR is to be then, it ought to go up the East Bay, not the more densely, and increasingly dense, dead-end (no pun) Peninsula Corrdior. BART's elevated, tunnel, or trench requirement will save lives. The sooner we start to get BART, now that all counties have voted for it, and PA and MV voters in 2008 both voted (Measure A) by over 2/3 to tax themselves for BART additional 1/8 cent, then the sooner these deaths, even suicides, will be reduced due to harder to access tracks--but the citizens and councils and all levels of govt (Dem) must form a consensus to work with VTA and SamTrans to collaborate with BART and get funding. BART will have the newer cars then--and allow bicycles more as well
The sooner we start this effort, the sooner the 15-20 year plan-fund-build work will replace Caltrain-HSR street-level tracks with BART grade separated tracks. As I have repeatedly advised PA, MP, MV councils, that still means these higher speed, horizontal-guillotine violent dismemberment or crushing deaths, especially by the higher speed (Baby) Bullet trains will amount to about 200 more dead on the tracks. How many more must die before we work to stop this sad, horrorific situation in our midst? We voters in the SF Peninsula area should have started in 2000 when SM and SC county voters overwhelmingly voted to support BART, 15 years ago, but late is better than never--especially for those who are toddlers today!
One can only wonder if others are dying in California along tracks secretly held frozen, without improvement for better, safer service, by Gov. Jerry Brown and other Rail Foamers in Southern California and Central California?
Monday, March 9, 2015
Thursday, March 5, 2015
Latest deathcount on Democrats' CA HSR sacrificial Altar of Death: Caltrain of SF Bay Area
Palo Alto, Menlo Park, Mountain View, Burlingame voters must understand that Caltrain is and has been the placeholder for CHSRA High-Speed Rail placeholder from Sacramento-based Democrat Party and their local Democrat zombie puppets, Stepford Wives and Zombiers. To them, it does not matter how many die, how violently since they decided in about 1995 to use Caltrain's tracks. 218 dead since 1995, 7 dead this year, and 59 dead since I started going to the PA aned MP City Councils in 2011 (to meetings after most deaths) to at least 10% each year
This is the powerful state Democrat agenda, that unless Demcrats Hill, Speier, Eshoo, Honda, "oh so clever" Burt, are convinced to change their positions and support Atherton's Caltrain Electrification lawsuit--that lays out all the reasons for the recent and past track deaths, and fight Caltrain-HSR "improvements" rather than the far safer, same cost, electrified, no horns, more frequent service of BART, then the deaths will occur. Despite MP's crocodile tears at recent meetings, and the unfunded underpass notion, the real solution is a consensus of Peninsula cities unified to fight the coming state Eminent Domain power of CHSRA and work to bring down BART to join with SJ/SC coming station. Unfortunately, another 200 will die during this planning-construction 20 year period. Too bad we didn't start planning and building BART southward from Millbrae back in 2000 when both counties voters approved BART to join the others around the Bay.
Bottom line is that the Democrat power politics of CHSRA and its capitalist (profiteers) and socialist (leftist environmental, especially local Sierra Club and high-density (Smart Growth/Sustainable) central planning crony advocates will continue the deaths unabated, even if HSR comes through-no money for Grade Separations and its need for 20% operating funds from HSR-owned (Eminent Domain) retail and denser property values with 1/2 mile of stations--including Palo Alto.
- Caltrain deaths are politically enabled as the Peninsula's placeholder, since 1995, for state and local Democrat's desire to impose inappropriate HSR into California.
- (Listen to CHSRA Chair's interview on KCBS, 740 AM, January 11, 2015, and, Rod Diridon Sr's comments on KBAY 94.5, Sunday March 01, 2015 Sunday a.m. radio broadcast w/ Sam van Sant)
- BART requires, by law, grade separation to zero-out such conflicrts with traffic and avoid many all-too-easy suicides, but it must complete the last 30 miles down the Peninsual from Millbrae to Santa Clara to loop the Bay for bi-directional doubling of capacity, not HSR
The voters of Peninsula voters have to stop being "Gruber-ized" by clever Democrat politicians and influence or elect those who are openly oppsed to Gov. Brown's "Moonbeam" HSR (not Democrat appeasers) and its devastating effects and higher taxes on adjacent communities, but more importantly on our lives.
Assembly Candidate George Yang, who ran for statewide office in 2014, and is likely to run in 2016 understands all this, supports BART around the Bay, including the Peninsula Caltrain replacement, and, if HSR cannot be stopped, then to run HSR up the East Bay to Oakland for riders to use BART from SJ or Oakland to get to SF, and, later, HSR will have a straight track to Sacramento by the demonstrably busy I-80 corridor--as Amtrak does now and with the Capitol Corridor trains..
[Similarly posted on Palo Alto Patch, 03-05-2015]
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