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Merced officials told the California High-Speed Rail Authority not to attempt its proposed station area change until it comes up with a full plan. In Shafter, a major developer has started planning more than 1,200 homes squarely in the bullet train’s approved path.
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The latest conflicts between the rail authority and Central Valley cities follow complaints earlier this year from Fresno Mayor Jerry Dyer, who strongly opposed the agency’s idea to capture local tax dollars around future stations to pay for infrastructure.
In Merced, an area that has supported the project, frustration has shown as officials suggest the rail authority’s proposal to relocate Merced’s station scraps years of local planning and is not yet fully thought out. Merced Mayor Matthew Serratto and other local leaders want a “binding” plan with the rail authority that mitigates the impacts of losing its downtown station.
Meanwhile, Shafter — a city that has historically resisted the project — gave Lennar Homes tentative city approval in May for a subdivision that ignores the rail authority’s planned tracks through the city’s east side.
Merced: Controversial station change idea
Merced’s frustration showed at the rail authority’s August board meeting. County Supervisor Josh Pedrozo told the board it was like “groundhog day” asking the state agency to send someone to his community and talk to residents.
“We can’t get you guys to come and explain this, but you can go to Fresno and speak at Fresno,” Pedrozo said. “You have to go through Merced to get to Fresno. It doesn’t make any sense to me.”
At issue: the rail authority’s proposal to build the Merced station near Mission Avenue and Highway 99 — outside city limits — instead of downtown, a shift the agency says could save $1 billion. The move would require amending SB 198, the 2022 state law that defines Merced’s station as a downtown facility with connections to ACE and the Amtrak Gold Runner.
Blanca Ojeda, a Merced advocate with the nonprofit Faith in the Valley, blasted the proposal at that meeting.
“When did it become acceptable to design a project around changing the law instead of following the law that already exists?” Ojeda said, during public comment. “Where is the accountability to the people of the Central Valley?”
Rail authority CEO Ian Choudri has defended the relocation as the responsible choice given available funding and the disruption downtown construction would cause. “It’s not about broken promises,” Choudri told The Fresno Bee in June. “We want to have a smart discussion around what makes sense for the city.”
An Aug. 26 letter from Merced officials to rail leaders argues the state should not “seek legislative changes, make a final station decision or take irreversible actions affecting the downtown location before the mitigation agreement is complete.”
Shafter: 1,200 homes in the train’s path
Last fall in Shafter, city leaders rejected a rail redesign that would have kept trains at ground level and reconfigured local streets as underpasses and overpasses. Mayor Chad Givens said he would rather see the train “go around the city.”
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Then in May, the city tentatively approved Lennar’s map for 1,251 single-family lots despite a rail authority objection letter. City Attorney Marco Martinez told the council staff could find no legal basis on which to deny the map.
Givens told The Bee the developer’s move may have actually strengthened Shafter’s leverage. “It started to force them to say, ‘Maybe we shouldn’t come this way,’” he said.
The rail authority says its route through Shafter — set in a 2018 environmental lawsuit settlement — remains unchanged, though it is “evaluating options.”
Tax capture idea: Fresno led the pushback
The third conflict cut across the Valley. The rail authority wants to capture a portion of the rise in local property and sales tax revenues — called tax increments — generated within a half-mile of its future stations. In Fresno, that radius covers the entire downtown core and Chinatown.
Dyer, a longtime rail supporter, drew a hard line. “I’m not in a position to compromise,” he told The Bee in April. “I am not willing to.” He noted he had just balanced a budget that was $34.5 million in the red.
Nine California mayors signed an April 23 letter to Choudri warning the proposal is likely unconstitutional and would “almost certainly invite extensive litigation.”
The rail authority says it is not proposing to override local land-use or tax authority and is discussing only “mutually agreed-upon” arrangements. Some Central Valley cities have indicated they are willing to discuss the idea.
What could come next in Merced, Shafter
In Merced, the signatories of the Aug. 26 letter are seeking a binding regional planning meeting with state and regional agencies and Newsom’s office. They also want the rail authority to explain to residents in person why the agency wants to change the Merced station area. Rail board member Henry Perea, of Fresno, said he would work on setting up a Merced meeting.
In Shafter, the Lennar map is tentative and will expire in 2028 unless extended, and the developer has agreed to defend the city in court if the approval is challenged. The rail authority says its route “will remain as currently planned unless subsequent negotiations result in changes to the settlement agreement.” The agency also says it hasn’t decided if it will sue.
Original stories by Erik Galicia.
This report was produced with the assistance of a proprietary tool powered by artificial intelligence based on our own originally reported, written and published content. Before publishing, journalists reviewed this content in compliance with McClatchy Media’s AI policy.
This story was originally published September 7, 2026 at 5:30 AM with the headline “Central Valley cities are complaining about High-Speed Rail in 2026. See the latest.”
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