Chowchilla Wye

The Chowchilla Wye, or Central Valley Wye, is a planned high-speed rail flying wye junction to be located south of Chowchilla in the Central Valley of California. California High-Speed Rail trains will use the structure to switch between the three branches of the Phase I system: the line to the San Francisco Peninsula, the southern segment to Bakersfield and later Los Angeles, and initial spur to Merced where passengers may transfer to other services until the line is built to Sacramento. The north-south leg is planned to become operational with the Central Valley Segment opening in 2029, with the full facility coming online when the Peninsula line begins operations in 2031.

Planning

A study in 2013 identifies 14 potential alignments for the Wye, referred to by the closest roads to be paralleled. These were parsed down to four options by 2017.[1]

The California High-Speed Rail Authority February 2016 draft business plan outlined the Merced station as not beginning service at the same time as the initial San Jose to Bakersfield route in 2025, but would likely open in 2029 instead. This would make the leg between the Central Valley and Pacheco Pass the first to be constructed.[2] The Merced City Council vigorously opposed the delay in their city's station opening, noting Merced's volume of commuters seeking high-speed rail to access jobs in Silicon Valley.[3] In response, the April 2016 revisions to the business plan indeed included Merced in the initial construction segment, initially as a single-track spur connecting only to the westbound track to the Bay Area, with build out of the full Wye happening later.[4][5]

By 2019, the California High-Speed Rail Authority had identified four potential routes, and a final alignment was chosen: the State Route 152 / Road 11 option. The board approved that alignment in September 2020.[6]

References
  1. Sheehan, Tim (3 May 2019). "Bullet train has 4 route options around one California town as foes plan court appeal". Fresno Bee. Retrieved 26 July 2020.
  2. Miller, Thaddeus (2016-02-23). "High-speed rail changes leave Merced leaders wondering". Merced Sun-Star. Retrieved 2016-02-24.
  3. Miller, Thaddeus (2016-04-06). "Merced drafts letter denouncing new HSR plans". Merced Sun-Star. Retrieved 2016-04-12.
  4. Associated Press (2016-04-21). "California High-Speed Rail Officials Tinker With Plans". Capital Public Radio. Retrieved 2016-04-23.
  5. Cruickshank, Robert (2016-04-21). "CHSRA Proposes Revisions to 2016 Business Plan". California High Speed Rail Blog. Retrieved 2016-04-24.
  6. Sheehan, Tim (11 September 2020). "High-speed rail junction near Chowchilla, connecting to Gilroy, approved. What's next?". Fresno Bee. Retrieved 13 September 2020.

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