State seeks to condemn first Fresno sites for high-speed rail project
“Two pieces of property in Fresno are being targeted as the first parcels to be condemned for California’s high-speed train system.
The fight for the properties — one a small, vacant retail building on Belmont Avenue, the other an office building leased by the state near downtown — marks the start of a new stage of development for the proposed bullet train that would connect San Francisco and Los Angeles by way of the San Joaquin Valley.
Progress has been slow — very slow — in the California High-Speed Rail Authority’s efforts to buy the right of way it needs for the first 29 miles of construction planned between the northeast fringe of Madera and the south edge of Fresno.”
Sheehan, Tim. The Fresno Bee 8 December 2013.