The California High-Speed Rail Authority has completed a new grade separation in Kings County, with the Corcoran Highway overpass now open to traffic.
The structure is the 62nd completed structure along the first 119 miles of high-speed rail construction in California’s Central Valley.
Located on Corcoran Highway, also known as Waukena Avenue, the grade separation sits northeast of State Route 43 between Fourth and Orange Avenues. The 713-foot-long structure carries road traffic over an existing canal, Fifth and Orange Avenues, and the future high-speed rail alignment.
The overpass is more than 43 feet wide and was built using 28 precast concrete girders. The girders were manufactured in Hanford, California, by the Dragados-Flatiron Joint Venture.
The project used approximately 1,900 cubic yards of concrete and 1.4 million pounds of steel.
California High Speed Rail’s grade separation projects across Kings County are expected to prevent an estimated 670 crashes over 30 years, including fatal, injury and property-damage collisions. It estimates the projects will provide approximately 137 million USD in public safety benefits over the same period.
The Corcoran Highway project is the second grade separation completed in Kings County during summer 2026. Other structures completed by the Authority this year include the State Route 43/Jersey Avenue structure in Kings County, Road 26 in Madera County and the Ventura Street underpass in Fresno.
Ed Fenn, Chief of Construction for the Authority said:The Corcoran Highway overpass is the second structure to be completed in Kings County this summer and will serve the residents of surrounding communities. The opening of this roadway will help improve traffic flow and east-west mobility as we continue construction in the county and near the city of Corcoran.
The Authority is currently working on major sections of the high-speed rail project between Merced and Bakersfield. Nearly 90 miles of guideway have been completed, while 62 major structures are complete and another 30 are under construction across Madera, Fresno, Kings and Tulare counties.
The planned high-speed rail system between San Francisco and Los Angeles/Anaheim is 494 miles long. 463 miles have received environmental clearance and are ready for construction.
Construction of the project has generated nearly 19,200 jobs, with the Authority stating that most have been filled by Central Valley residents. It also estimates that the project has contributed nearly 27 billion USD in economic impact and growth across California.
Up to 1,700 workers are currently reported to be working at high-speed rail construction sites each day.
