Fresno High-Speed Rail Station Early Site Activation

Years
2022

Client
California High-Speed Rail Authority

Collaborators
DB E.C.O. North America Inc.
BASE Landscape Architecture

Services provided
Urban Design
Community Engagement
Landscape Architecture

The Fresno High-Speed Train Station

High-speed rail is coming to California, starting with early service in the Central Valley between Merced and Bakersfield, followed by service to San Francisco and Los Angeles. The Fresno HSR Station will be located near the Historic Southern Pacific Railway Depot between Tulare and Fresno Streets in Downtown Fresno. Urban Field Studio, in partnership with DB, has been assisting the California High-Speed Rail Authority (CHSRA) with conceptual station planning and early site activation strategies for the site, with the goal of integrating the station, providing connections between Downtown and Chinatown, and creating a new district and destination.

Early Site Activation

The Historic Depot Plaza in front of the Historic Depot, which was a park until the 1950s, is an opportunity to create an attractive place for the community in the near future, before high-speed trains are operating. Through a series of meetings and outreach events, conducted by the UFS/BASE team, the community has voiced the desire for establishing an inviting green space for relaxing, events, outdoor activities, and public art; a space that is connected to the Historic Depot, Downtown and Chinatown once again. This early site activation is both a permanent plaza and a pilot project, intended to test open space ideas, provide information about the past, present, and future, and establish amenities that benefit the community.