(rshsdepot) Sacramento, CA

["James Dent" <james.dent_@_itochu.com>]

rshsdepot
-From the Sacramento (CA) Bee...

Fargo seeks unity on depot: Transit officials, preservationists duel over
railyard
By Tony Bizjak
Bee Staff Writer
(Published March 7, 2001)

Mayor Heather Fargo has issued a warning that infighting is threatening to
undermine a major multi-transit hub planned for the Union Pacific railyards
in downtown Sacramento.
Fargo challenged preservationists and transit officials to compromise on
their opposing visions for the facility, saying "we lose as a city" if
federal officials, who hold the purse strings, see the community is divided.

"I need you to get me to nine votes," a unanimous City Council, Fargo told a
gathering last week that included representatives of both sides. "Then we
can go to Washington ... and actually bring something home."

The fight pits a transit group, including Union Pacific and Amtrak, against
a grass-roots coalition headed by preservationists.

The transit group wants to move the rail lines several hundred feet north of
the current depot, and build a new station to handle growing numbers of
train and bus users. Preservationists want the city's 75-year-old depot
expanded and maintained as the  focal point of the complex.

But a spokesman for the transit group said the current depot can't handle
existing rail needs, much less projected growth.

"The risk here is in thinking too small and shortchanging the city and the
region," said Roy Brewer, an attorney for Union Pacific and spokesman for
the coalition.

Called the Sacramento Intermodal Transportation Alliance, the group includes
Union Pacific, Amtrak and the state Department of Transportation.

Meanwhile, a group called the Save Our Rail Depot, wants the existing depot
saved as a working train station. They propose moving the tracks to make
room for a addition to the back of the depot.

"We see the depot as an icon, the way Memorial Auditorium is, and the
Alhambra theater was," said chairwoman Kay Knepprath. The preservation
movement's attitude, she said, is that "the best way to use a building is
its intended use. That depot was built as a train station."

The sides have put out competing brochures as part of a public relations
duel, and have designed their own versions of what the intermodal complex
might look like, including track alignments and passenger platform sizes.

The city, in turn, has hired consultants to come to independent conclusions
on what is possible and preferable for the complex.

Fargo's warning comes at a pivotal moment for the historic, 240-acre Union
Pacific railyards, and for downtown as well.

The city and transit officials say Sacramento is overdue for a major
expansion of its train station. Downtown, already congested with cars, can't
grow much more without it, officials say.

"This facility clearly is a linchpin for development of the railyards," said
Paul Blumberg, city project manager for the area.

UP officials, who want to develop their railyards, say they won't be able to
figure out how to extend streets into the yard until they know where the
tracks and transit facilities will be.

Some city officials envision a transit hub spreading for more than a block,
mingled with offices and housing.

Its chores would include hand-ling Amtrak's passenger rail services, and the
"Capitol Corridor" passenger trains running from San Jose through Sacramento
to Roseville and Auburn.

It also would handle UP freight trains and Regional Transit light-rail line
that eventually might run to the airport.

The trains would share the facility with Greyhound, Amtrak and Regional
Transit bus services, as well as taxis.

Planners also want to leave room to expand in case high-speed trains are
ever built in California.

Officials said it is too early to estimate what it would cost to build a new
transit hub. However, the city has estimated the cost of refurbishing the
historic depot and an adjacent building at about $25 million. Blumberg said
the city and transit agencies plan to tap state and federal transportation
grants for much of the funds, as well as local developer fee revenues and
redevelopment funds.

Such a hub, dubbed the Sacramento Intermodal Transportation Center, could
serve as the true front door to the Sacramento region, city officials say.

A city planning commission hearing on the project is set for Thursday. The
City Council is tentatively scheduled to discuss it March 27, although the
council won't vote until later.

Meanwhile, on Friday, a city-sponsored "working group" made up of people on
both sides will sit together for the first time since Fargo's warning.

City project manager Blumberg said he is hoping to see a little more give
-From each side. "We think a consensus plan is best for the railyards. We are
looking at ways to incorporate the objectives of both sides."

Amtrak officials could not be reached Tuesday. Brewer, spokesman for the
group that includes Amtrak, said Amtrak officials are adamant the depot
won't work for them, even if refurbished.

That group has proposed no specific transportation use for the old depot.
Brewer suggested it could be used as a visitor center.

Preservationist spokeswoman Knepprath said her group cannot accept moving
the rail lines away from the depot. The group fears that if the historic
structure is no longer a train station, it could end up becoming what one
called a glorified T-shirt stand.

Moreover, they argue, moving the tracks farther north would help UP in
developing its land, but would put travelers farther away from downtown
businesses, making the facility less pedestrian friendly.

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