On Tuesday during its closed session, the Merced City Council will discuss the appraised values of Merced’s youth and senior centers in anticipation of selling the properties to California High Speed Rail for the construction of the new bullet train station.
Both the Merced Senior Community Center and McCombs Youth Center are located on 15th Street in downtown Merced. The planned station will be located between 15th and 16th streets and O and R streets.
Merced’s station will be unlike any other station in the San Joaquin Valley because it will feature connections to Amtrak San Joaquins and Altamont Commuter Express Rail trains all in one place.
Renderings show the station will have two levels: a thoroughfare for the ACE Rail and Union Pacific Railroad at ground level and an above-grade platform for High Speed Rail and Amtrak trains.
While construction of the nation’s first bullet train hasn’t reached Merced, its station will be the northern point of the first 171-mile segment through the San Joaquin Valley, starting in Bakersfield in the south.
It’s unlikely the City Council will take any reportable action during the two closed session agenda items since the council is only conferring with city staff involved in the property negotiations.
View Tuesday’s City Council agenda here.