The high-speed rail analysis for San Jose-San Francisco dropped today, and among all the mind-numbing variations presented for trenches and tunnels and aerial structures is this golden nugget: "analysis confirmed that the Transbay Transit Center is the preferred and only practical location and that the proposed Beale Street Alternative is infeasible." Well, that much was clear to anyone on the planet other than the California High-Speed Rail Authority — including AC Transit and the SF Planning Department, who formally registered their objections to a Beale Street rail terminus. An option, by the way, that would have cost about $1.02 billion to buy up and destroy all the buildings on the right of way, including the BayCrest Towers at 201 Harrison, the Watermark at 501 Beale, and the planned Infinity cousin at 201 Folsom. Compared to the simpler, and already more or less decided option of just going to the Transbay Transit Center at Mission and 1st, which would cost $280 million in acquisitions and — well, sometimes, easy decisions are just so hard.
· Preliminary Alternatives Analysis (long-ass PDF) [CAHSR, via Curbed Inbox, RHNA]
· Peninsula Cities Are Biting Their Nails Over Fast-Train Analysis [Curbed SF]
· Train Lovers Fed Up With Beale Street Shenanigans, Start Petition [Curbed SF]
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