California’s High-Speed Rail project is making sustainable improvements and creating jobs in the Central Valley.

“The project has created more than 15,000 good-paying construction jobs, with more than 70 percent of those jobs staying in the Central Valley,” said Toni Tinoco, the Central Valley deputy regional director at California High-Speed Rail Authority. “More than 5,000 of those jobs have gone to residents in Fresno County and many others going to the surrounding counties in which we are in construction.”

Voters passed Proposition 1A in 2008, which allowed the state to issue $9.95 billion in general obligation bonds to fund the high-speed rail project. The original plan for the high-speed rail, called “Phase 1,” was intended to transport people from San Francisco to Los Angeles in under three hours, traveling at speeds of 200 mph and having 24 stations throughout the state by 2020.

Five years later, it is nowhere close to being done, but there has been more of a focus on completion in the Central Valley. So far, there are 119 miles of active construction running from Madera County to Kern County, which is estimated to launch in 2033 and costs around $30 billion.

“In the short term, high-speed rail will allow the faster movement of people for business and pleasure in the San Joaquin Valley,” said Jeffrey Cummins, a political science professor at Fresno State. “It will open up housing opportunities for folks in the bigger urban areas and job opportunities for folks in the Valley.”

Some Californians feel that their tax dollars are being wasted on the high-speed rail.

“The high-speed rail has been a massive waste of taxpayer dollars and resources,” said Claire Palsgaard, a political science student at Fresno State. “It has taken billions of dollars and the finish line has moved almost yearly. California should have stopped years ago and billions of dollars ago.”

California has historically been a pioneer in the United States in terms of innovation, from the State Water Project to the California Freeway System. The high-speed rail system is one of California’s most ambitious projects yet, especially because of its sustainability.

“The high-speed rail system will be designed to operate on 100% renewable energy powered by an overhead catenary system that is proven to be a tried-and-true system across the world,” Tinoco said. “Power will be generated from on-site solar farms coupled with battery storage.”

Tinoco further explained the high-speed rail’s sustainability efforts.

“From a sustainability standpoint, our goal is to deliver the cleanest infrastructure project in the nation, both in its construction and future operations,” Tinoco said. “In construction, we have diverted 95% of waste through recycling, reuse and composting of non-hazardous materials while our contractors use tier four to help offset greenhouse gas emissions and pollutants released during construction.”

Some leaders, like President Donald Trump and Elon Musk, have publicly stated they want to cut federal funding for the high-speed rail project because they believe the project is wasteful.

“The only pros is that it has boosted the economy by giving many people work,” Palsgaard said. “Other than that, it has been a waste.”

Harmanjit Dhaliwal, assistant director of the city of Fresno’s Public Works Department High-Speed Rail and Special Projects Division, explains the benefits that the high-speed rail project has to offer to Fresno.

“In terms of local transportation, high-speed rail is in the process of grade separating 14 city roadways from the high-speed rail…this will reduce traffic congestion, vehicle-train delays, vehicle-train conflicts and pedestrian-train conflicts,” Dhaliwal said.

However, the construction of the high-speed rail in Fresno has faced some backlash from citizens, mainly because of the closures of some areas.

“The local community currently has shown some frustration towards the construction of high-speed rail due to the numerous road closures, especially in downtown and Chinatown,” Dhaliwal said. “The city and high-speed rail have been in communication with the impacted residents and businesses in these areas and should have two new grade separations open in 2025 to reconnect Downtown to Chinatown at Cesar Chavez Boulevard and Tulare Street.

Dhaliwal says that current high-speed rail development plans in Fresno include building 14 bridges, underpasses and overpasses in underserved areas of Fresno. New overpasses are being added at Central Avenue, Church Avenue, McKinley Avenue and Shaw Avenue.