MEETING REPORT

San Joaquin Valley Rail Committee

Salinas, May 30, 2005

Reported by Chris Flescher

Here's a summary of the TAMC meeting from a week ago.

Caltrans recently sent a letter to Dave Potter (a Monterey County councilmember) about negotiations between UP and the Coast Rail Coordinating Council for a Coast Daylight train. This could affect what TAMC is doing because it needs to negotiate with UP to run commuter trains south of Gilroy.

The total cost of everything (San Jose - Salinas and San Jose - Marina) appears to be about $75 million (2005 dollars). There are several sources that are likely to provide most of the money, including federal earmark, proposition 156, a state traffic congestion relief fund.

The whole project is now divided into 4 phases. It looks like phases 1 and 2 should be completed soon but getting money for 3 and 4 will be harder. The meeting agenda describes each phase but I don't have that in front of me as I type this.

TAMC should have the documents for a new starts federal funding proposal ready to submit soon. It appears that in the new federal transportation bill, projects of $75 million or less will be handled separately than larger ones (and probably faster, with less documentation required).

TAMC just learned that the state wants up upgrade highway 156 (which goes through Castroville). This might involve a new highway bridge over the rail line, but that could force a realignment in the rail line and possibly a relocation of the station, so TAMC needs to start working with the state right away to negotiate this.

TAMC has been meeting with the Coastal Commission. The members appreciate the fact that TAMC is trying to work out a compromise with them. Parsons (a planning company?) recently came up with a new Castroville plan where the parking lot takes up less ag land. They are not at the stage yet where they or TAMC are ready to show it to the Coastal Commission.

There is a request for proposals for the city of Marina redevelopment plan. TAMC will be getting proposals around May 15, will judge them around June 10 and pick 4 finalists.

The current Marina transit center is at Del Forest/Reservation (about 2 miles from rail line). This will probably be improved a bit, but it will most likely be eventually moved to Reservation/Del Monte (next to rail line).

Along the tracks in Marina is about 1000 feet of open space and it looks like a retail district could be created that would be similar to existing downtown areas in Seaside and Marina.

TAMC held 3 public meetings that went well (in Monterey, Seaside and Marina, I think). Most people supported passenger rail service in that area as long as many of the trains would make multiple stops (like downtown Monterey, Naval Postgraduate Center, Seaside, Sand City, Marina, Castroville) and not just be express Monterey-Watsonville or San Jose. Some people had strong negative ideas. They thought steam locomotives would run, producing a lot of pollution. Afterwards, they supported the project. TAMC had computer generated pictures showing the size of a train and a station compared to the area.


RailPAC Contacts Publications Issues Meeting Reports 2005 Reports 2005-11-16 Capitol 2005-11-10 San Joaquin 2005-11 Announcement 2005-10-24 Bay Area 2005-09-21 Capitol 2005-09-14 LOSSAN 2005-09 Coast and TAMC 2005-09-08 San Joaquin 2005-07-14 San Joaquin 2005-07-11 TAMC 2005-06-25 CASHRA 2005-06-16 LOSSAN 2005-06-15 Capitol 2005-05-30 TAMC 2005-05-12 San Joaquin 2005-04-27 Coast Rail 2005-04-19 LOS-SAN 2005-03-11 San Joaquin 2005-02-16 Capitol 2005 Annual 2005-01 San Joaquin 2005-01 Monterey Membership Links	MEETING REPORT San Joaquin Valley Rail Committee Salinas, May 30, 2005 Reported by Chris Flescher Here's a summary of the TAMC meeting from a week ago. Caltrans recently sent a letter to Dave Potter (a Monterey County councilmember) about negotiations between UP and the Coast Rail Coordinating Council for a Coast Daylight train. This could affect what TAMC is doing because it needs to negotiate with UP to run commuter trains south of Gilroy. The total cost of everything (San Jose - Salinas and San Jose - Marina) appears to be about $75 million (2005 dollars). There are several sources that are likely to provide most of the money, including federal earmark, proposition 156, a state traffic congestion relief fund. The whole project is now divided into 4 phases. It looks like phases 1 and 2 should be completed soon but getting money for 3 and 4 will be harder. The meeting agenda describes each phase but I don't have that in front of me as I type this. TAMC should have the documents for a new starts federal funding proposal ready to submit soon. It appears that in the new federal transportation bill, projects of $75 million or less will be handled separately than larger ones (and probably faster, with less documentation required). TAMC just learned that the state wants up upgrade highway 156 (which goes through Castroville). This might involve a new highway bridge over the rail line, but that could force a realignment in the rail line and possibly a relocation of the station, so TAMC needs to start working with the state right away to negotiate this. TAMC has been meeting with the Coastal Commission. The members appreciate the fact that TAMC is trying to work out a compromise with them. Parsons (a planning company?) recently came up with a new Castroville plan where the parking lot takes up less ag land. They are not at the stage yet where they or TAMC are ready to show it to the Coastal Commission. There is a request for proposals for the city of Marina redevelopment plan. TAMC will be getting proposals around May 15, will judge them around June 10 and pick 4 finalists. The current Marina transit center is at Del Forest/Reservation (about 2 miles from rail line). This will probably be improved a bit, but it will most likely be eventually moved to Reservation/Del Monte (next to rail line). Along the tracks in Marina is about 1000 feet of open space and it looks like a retail district could be created that would be similar to existing downtown areas in Seaside and Marina. TAMC held 3 public meetings that went well (in Monterey, Seaside and Marina, I think). Most people supported passenger rail service in that area as long as many of the trains would make multiple stops (like downtown Monterey, Naval Postgraduate Center, Seaside, Sand City, Marina, Castroville) and not just be express Monterey-Watsonville or San Jose. Some people had strong negative ideas. They thought steam locomotives would run, producing a lot of pollution. Afterwards, they supported the project. TAMC had computer generated pictures showing the size of a train and a station compared to the area.
	Photos and copy on this site are the property of RailPAC. Reproduction of anything on this site requires the permission of RailPAC. Copyright © 2007, Citizens For Rail California, Inc.