Deck Work at Shaw AND Church Ave - California High Speed Rail in Fresno (July 2026)

[00:00:00]Hey everybody, I am finally back here in the city of Fresno and expect more videos to come just before the month ends and we begin here with the typical Fresno flyover starting at the Jensen Trench where this is a weekday when I filmed prior than a weekend which I usually do. You can see concrete being poured for the last portion of the retaining walls just on the northern portion of the trench before it goes up to grade level again, but there's a lot of stuff happening at Church Avenue in particular.

[00:00:25]What a wild month it has been here at this structure for both the substructure one and substructure two. You can see the abutment wall on the second substructure, the far eastern one, has been fully poured with the formwork being removed and the [music] first abutment wall for that second substructure, the western one, finally after months of waiting >> [music] >> they are finally finishing up and a couple days ago for my members actually showed down timing rebar cage prior to them putting the panels up which you see in this video. And also the columns needed for the second substructure is finally underway with foundation work beginning. This is really good news as this was halted for some time due to the fire that occurred here in March [music] or February of this year, but seeing them ramping up again is great. But it's not just there. The first substructure, you can see all of the deck panels are installed finally and also the bent cap needed to connect the set of girders and columns together >> [music] >> has been fully poured. A lot of stuff happening here at this structure and I cannot wait to see this done probably [music] by Q1 of next year.

[00:01:27]As for downtown Fresno next to Ventura Street, there is not much going on besides the drainage work that I mentioned in my last video back in June which is still ongoing. I'm not too sure how long it'll take for them to complete so they can polish up the guideway, but only time will tell and we'll find out eventually. One thing I want to know if someone can tell me in the comments is HSR responsible for the new striping that goes on between the new grade separations on G Street. As you can see for example on Ventura is with the suicide lane and two lanes on each side plus bike lanes. I'm not too sure if they're supposed to connect it all the way through the three bridges they will have here in downtown for G Street. So, someone can tell me in the comments why or who's responsible for that, that'd be really nice to know.

[00:02:06]The final grade separation in downtown Fresno has had [music] a lot of demolition occur for specifically the H Street bridge that once stood here separating both Fresno Street and H Street, [music] and it will be an at-grade crossing with traffic lights in the future. This will be the first thing they work on once the utilities have been relocated. So, they're not going to have it all closed and then open everything at once. They're going to do it in stages just like Tulare Street and Ventura where they, for example, finished the G Street bridge and then open that to traffic while they were still building the underpass itself. You can see most of the H Street bridge is completely demolished now. It was some parts still remaining last month. Most of it's all gone so they can finish the utility work and the relocation and demolition of the vault that they have for utilities. As you can see that little box right there where it once stood. You guys have probably saw in the news there's been fires here and two people I think passed away [music] here, homeless people that were staying in that vault. So, it'll be really nice and much safer [music] here so people wouldn't have to stay in there anymore.

[00:03:20]>> [music] >> As for the Fresno Street grade separation that once stood here itself, you can see the retaining walls right next to Union Pacific are being demolished, which is really good to see.

[00:03:31]It'll be a huge makeover. I'll put a photo here on the screen of the render that they showed me back during the community meeting in April, [music] just a couple weeks before they broke ground.

[00:03:39]You can see a lot of also more utility relocations here just near F Street.

[00:03:44][music] So, only time will tell once this all is done. I really hope it is by June as that will be very fast compared to all the other grade separations they have done in the city, [music] and I can't wait to see this all complete.

[00:03:55]Belmont, Belmont, Belmont, they are finally locking in on this great [music] separation. It was been open for the past year, but part of it was not finished. For example, [music] the cul-de-sac to end the old circle that used to be here was not fully paved.

[00:04:08][music] All the paving on Belmont itself was not done, and all these sidewalks weren't even poured when they opened it to traffic, which is very odd. But, they are finally locking in. You probably just saw there at the bottom where the roundabout once stood, they're finally paving the terminating point of the cul-de-sac, as well as the new sidewalks and new paving to connect all of it together. It has been a long time in the making. I don't know what took them so long. It's been months. They were supposed to get it done by March, I remember, but I guess that was pushed back for some odd reason.

[00:04:45]What is really good news, as you can see right there, they are finally working on the trench underneath Belmont Avenue [music] with the new overcrossing.

[00:04:53]Really good to see. I've been waiting for this for so long, and it's not just there. Just right next to Belmont Avenue, all of these side streets that have been demolished to allow them to relocate Belmont to the north while they kept the underpass open is finally having active [music] work again. You can see the new cul-de-sac they're building next to the affordable housing the city of Fresno completed a couple years ago. The new sidewalks, the new driveway they're going to connect to that business district there. [music] Really good stuff to see, but it's not just over there. There's even more happening here on this work day. You can see active excavation for the Fresno trench just north of Belmont Avenue, so they can prep the guideway prior to them pouring concrete for the retaining walls, as well [music] as the ramp to go even more below grade level.

[00:05:34]Very good to see.

[00:05:37]After waiting and waiting for them to finally relocate Golden State Boulevard to the west, and [music] it took them so long because there was a power line in the way, but they decided, "Okay, we'll open it and then we'll relocate it afterwards, which they did. But now that it's [music] fully relocated and everything is ready to go, the last set of column prep for McKinley Avenue is underway. I'm so happy to see this. No, work did not fully pause, which is great. You can see embankment work is still occurring, which was happening before they relocated GSB. [music] And also the noise proofing retaining wall just on the last set of columns for cars that will go below McKinley Avenue.

[00:06:13]You know to see now the drilling for those last set of columns right there, second drilling as well as a crane holding up that portion before they pour the foundations.

[00:06:21]I cannot wait to see this done. This will be a major makeover in this part of the city, >> [music] >> and it'll be really cool to see when it's done by the end of the year.

[00:06:30]Lots and lots of stuff has happened here at Shaw Avenue. And you're probably thinking, well, what's different? For example, a lot of the deck panels needed for two sets of the girder spans needed for this structure specifically for the Golden State Boulevard portion in the HSR right-of-way are now installed and in place. You're probably wondering, what about Union Pacific, the freight line that's just to the east? Well, since I last filmed here, I was on the Shaw Avenue bypass, which is for [music] traffic currently before they open this overcrossing, and no light is bleeding through anymore on that portion. [music] And to confirm this even further, I actually checked satellite imagery from a couple days ago all the way from space, and [music] there is a new color change just like the other parts of this structure, basically confirming all the deck panels have been installed in just like a couple weeks. This is really cool stuff, and it really shows they're really trying to ramp this thing up. But it's not just the embankments, as you can see a lot of people there as well on the eastern side for MSE. You can also see brand new asphalt, baby, for Golden State Boulevard. This part was not done, which I'm not too sure why, but seeing them ramping it up is really good to see. However, the bypass is still in the way, but once Shaw Avenue is open, they can connect the old thing, and I bet you they are not slowing down in terms of this realignment.

[00:07:38]Here we are at the final grade separation just north of Shaw Avenue here at the Herndon Avenue undercrossing site. Well, not much has happened here.

[00:07:47]I'm not too sure what's the hold up.

[00:07:49]There's not even that many workers here as well. I really hope this doesn't get pushed back as this is a very important undercrossing needed to connect to the future San [music] Joaquin River Viaduct via MSE embankment. But, we have to keep a real close eye on this since I'm sure probably in the next month or so it'll ramp up even further. And on that note, I hope you guys enjoyed this video.

[00:08:07]Expect more to come soon. I hopefully I can get another video of CB 230 by the end of July. And on that note, I'll catch you guys in the next one.