Burbank fears bullet train will compromise airport safety and water, but rail authority OKs plan

An Alaska Airlines plane crosses Vineland Avenue in North Hollywood as it prepares to land at Hollywood Burbank Airport in July 2019. The approvals on the Los Angeles-to-Burbank segment came after Burbank officials sent letters and appeared at a board meeting Wednesday, calling on the state rail authority to delay approval because of many unresolved impacts. “The airport continues to have significant concerns over the project’s safety hazards and impacts,” Ginetta Giovinco, an attorney representing the airport, said Wednesday at the rail authority board meeting. California Burbank airport sits in the path of California’s bullet train, so a tunnel is in the works The California High-Speed Rail Authority is studying a possible tunnel under Burbank airport for the route of the state’s troubled bullet train. In addition, he added, the environmental documents “should be revised to identify and evaluate additional alternatives that would avoid or minimize the need to acquire and demolish the recently-completed Avion Burbank Project.” The rail authority at one point internally estimated the cost of acquisition at $300 million, according to an official knowledgeable about the matter who was not authorized to speak to the news media.