California High-Speed Rail Authority staff members could have up to another year to complete the Peninsula segment of the Environmental Impact Report (EIR), due this spring.

Staff members are expected to recommend to the high-speed rail board next week that the report be delayed for as much as a year, former board member Rod Diridon told Belmont city officials Thursday afternoon.

The EIR was initially due last December but was pushed back until the spring, he said.

Diridon, executive director of the Mineta Transportation Institute at San Jose State University, whose brother, Tom Diridon, lives in San Carlos, spoke to Belmont's high-speed rail ad hoc committee and city officials at Belmont City Hall to address concerns and questions the city has with the multi-billion-dollar project.

The staff will likely recommend the EIR be delayed to allow more time to look into a number of matters that still concern Peninsula city leaders, residents and business owners, including looking into a two-track system through San Mateo County instead of a four-track system.

The two-track system would allow Caltrain, which is expected to be electrified with funds from high-speed rail, and the high-speed rail trains to run on the same tracks, Diridon said.

"This could make all the difference between having the project and not having it," said Bill Dawson, a member of Belmont's high-speed rail ad hoc committee. The committee is comprised of local residents and business owners who investigate the potential impact of high-speed rail on Belmont.

"It's a game-changer," Dawson said. "People are worried about having four tracks. The right-of-way in Belmont is wide enough to accommodate four tracks, but many oppose four tracks, because it widens the right-of-way."

The Federal Railroad Administration two years ago ruled on particulate applicability, which allows for the use of a two-track system, Diridon said.

After playing a slideshow of background information on high-speed rail, Diridon fielded questions from members of the audience.

He addressed concerns about the design of the tracks that will run through urban and suburban areas, and said the most attractive system is an elevated design like the one in China.

"The most attractive and the most modern system is now the Chinese system," Diridon said. "Seventy percent of the Chinese system is aerial. The preference around the world is for an elevated structure. Once in awhile you have a tunnel, but the cost of a tunnel is four to six times more expensive."

He added that the Peninsula shouldn't hold out hope for a tunnel system.

"If we build a tunnel down the Peninsula, we’re going to have the build the tunnel for Sanger, and Cochrane, and the other Central Valley cities," Diridon said. "That’s the law. If we don’t, the project will be stopped by legal action."

Holding out for a tunnel would significantly delay the high-speed rail project, he said.

"If you hold out for a tunnel, I think what you’ll do is delay the project on the Peninsula maybe forever," Diridon said. "Because I don’t think you can build a tunnel."