The High Desert Corridor: The Promise of Sustainable, Multi-Purpose Infrastructure

Moderator:
Kathleen Brown, Partner, Manatt, Phelps & Phillips, LLP; Former Treasurer, State of California
Speakers:
Doug Failing, Executive Director of Highway Projects, Los Angeles Metro
Andrew Mack, Chief Operating Officer, XpressWest
Jeff Morales, Chief Executive Officer, California High-Speed Rail Authority
Responder:
Chris Margaronis, Project Manager, Los Angeles County Metropolitan Transportation Authority
 
In 1933, the Auto Club had on the drawing board "The LA Bypass," an east-west highway to connect the I-5 and the I-15. In 2014, the High Desert Corridor has evolved as a 50-mile-long net-zero Green Energy Corridor—a multi-purpose public-private partnership that includes a high-speed rail connector and renewable energy generation/transmission/connection to the grid. Construction would include laying infrastructure for electric and CNG fueling stations. The HDC incorporates means for sustainable land use and transportation planning. It promises to connect over a million people in two population centers, permitting game-changing freight transportation routes. How will planning for jobs in conjunction with new rail and highway routes reduce commute vehicle miles traveled in the housing-rich High Desert? What challenges stand in the way of beginning to build a multipurpose P3 corridor today, and how can these be overcome?

Conference: 

The High Desert Corridor