It’s a $6.6 million gamble that future Altamont Commuter Express high speed rail service will go through downtown Manteca and not down the center of the 120 Bypass.
Manteca leaders believe the odds are with them that the Union Pacific corridor will ultimately be used to extend high speed ACE service to Modesto. The 120 corridor poses major land acquisition issues to bridge the roughly nine miles from the eastern end of the 120 Bypass to reach the Santa Fe right-of-way that would then take the trains to the east side of Modesto.
That is why they are moving forward with a long-awaited $6.6 million transit station at Moffat and South Main Street using Measure K and other non-city funding sources. The transit station will also be used for regional, inter-city, and local bus service. Construction will start on the station in the coming months.
High speed rail will go over the Altamont on new dedicated tracks at 150 mph while it will go at current speeds through cities on both sides of the pass. That would reduce the San Jose to Manteca commute via ACE by roughly an hour down to 50 minutes.
The ACE board has designated downtown Manteca as a potential stop should the route go along the UP corridor.
The California High Speed Rail line could also go past the station but it would not stop in Manteca. The closest stops would be in Modesto and Stockton.
Another state high speed alternative would run tracks somewhere in a mile wide corridor east of Austin Road on the segment between Modesto and Stockton.
Manteca leaders believe the odds are with them that the Union Pacific corridor will ultimately be used to extend high speed ACE service to Modesto. The 120 corridor poses major land acquisition issues to bridge the roughly nine miles from the eastern end of the 120 Bypass to reach the Santa Fe right-of-way that would then take the trains to the east side of Modesto.
That is why they are moving forward with a long-awaited $6.6 million transit station at Moffat and South Main Street using Measure K and other non-city funding sources. The transit station will also be used for regional, inter-city, and local bus service. Construction will start on the station in the coming months.
High speed rail will go over the Altamont on new dedicated tracks at 150 mph while it will go at current speeds through cities on both sides of the pass. That would reduce the San Jose to Manteca commute via ACE by roughly an hour down to 50 minutes.
The ACE board has designated downtown Manteca as a potential stop should the route go along the UP corridor.
The California High Speed Rail line could also go past the station but it would not stop in Manteca. The closest stops would be in Modesto and Stockton.
Another state high speed alternative would run tracks somewhere in a mile wide corridor east of Austin Road on the segment between Modesto and Stockton.
