Valley Link Rail Project
Get Valley Linked!
The Tri-Valley – San Joaquin Valley Regional Rail Authority is undertaking preliminary engineering and environmental review for the Valley Link Rail Project. The Proposed Project would establish a new passenger rail service along a 22-mile corridor linking the existing Dublin/Pleasanton Bay Area Rapid Transit (BART) Station in Alameda County and the Mountain House community in San Joaquin County with all-day service at frequent intervals in both directions using zero-emission rail vehicles.
The alignment would be constructed within a combination of an existing freeway median (along I-580), an existing transportation corridor owned by Alameda County, and new right-of-way in San Joaquin County, terminating at the Mountain House community. The Proposed Project includes four new stations, a Mountain House Layover Facility and a Tracy Operations and Maintenance Facility/Operations Support Site (OMF/OSS).
California Environmental Quality Act (CEQA) Final Subsequent Environmental Impact Report (FSEIR) is out!
The Tri-Valley – San Joaquin Valley Regional Rail Authority (Authority) as Lead Agency has prepared a Final Subsequent Environmental Impact Report (FSEIR) for the proposed Valley Link Rail Project, consistent with requirements under the California Environmental Quality Act (CEQA). The purpose of the SEIR is to analyze the potential environmental effects associated with revisions to the previously analyzed improvements included in the Valley Link Rail Project Final EIR approved by the Authority in 2021. The Authority collected comments from the public on the Draft SEIR between April 22 to June 6, 2024 and conducted three open forum public hearings in May 2024. The FSEIR contains all comments submitted, responses to those comments, and documentation of any changes to the draft SEIR that were made as a result of these comments. The FSEIR is available for review on the Documents page of this website.
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The SEIR will come before the Authority Board at a regular meeting on October 23. Check the Events page of this website for meeting logistics.
National Environmental Protection Act (NEPA) Environmental Assessment (EA) is in Progress
The Federal Transit Administration (FTA), as Lead Agency, together with the Authority as Project Sponsor, is preparing an Environmental Assessment (EA) for the proposed Valley Link Rail Project. Similar to the SEIR, the purpose of the EA is to analyze the potential environmental effects associated with the project following the federal requirements under the National Environmental Protection Act (NEPA).
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The EA is expected to be available for public comment for a period of 30 days in mid to late Autumn 2024. In parallel, the US Fish & Wildlife Service and the State Historic Preservation Office will be consulting on the project and providing feedback on biological and cultural resources in the Project area. The NEPA process would conclude with a Decision Document in Winter 2025.
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Stay tuned for updates on when the EA will be available, where to find it, and how to provide comments.
Background
On May 12, 2021, the Authority Board approved a staff-recommended CEQA Certified Alternative, as published in the Valley Link Rail Project Final Environmental Impact Report (EIR). The CEQA Certified Alternative included an initial operating segment (IOS) that would establish initial service from the Dublin/Pleasanton BART Station to the Mountain House Alternative shown in the map below.
The Mountain House Station Alternative IOS is the basis of the Proposed Project to be evaluated in the present Subsequent EIR.
Subsequent to the approval of the Final EIR in 2021, the Authority has advanced design and analysis of the Mountain House Station Alternative IOS from the existing Dublin/Pleasanton BART Station to include a new alignment that responds to requests by the community of Mountain House for a Valley Link station that better serves their community. This new alignment would reduce construction cost, improve travel time through a straightened alignment, enable improved station access, and facilitate the advancement of transit-oriented development.
The proposed changes to the 2021 CEQA Certified Alternative IOS, now constituting the Proposed Project, include locating the Dublin/Pleasanton Station platform to the south side of I-580 (rather than in the freeway median), realignment of the trackway in the Altamont Pass, a new Mountain House Community Station and Operations and Maintenance Facility (OMF), and construction of an Operations Support Site in Tracy. The Mountain Community House Station would be constructed north of I-205 on a site west of Mountain House Parkway near the I-205/Mountain House Parkway interchange. The new OMF would be constructed on a site east of Mountain House Parkway and north of I-205.
The Proposed project is currently undergoing environmental review under CEQA and NEPA.