Re: (rshsdepot) Sacramento, CA

["Paul S. Luchter" <luckyshow_@_mindspring.com>]

rshsdepot
Oh bah humbug on pragmatism, why not knock down the Coliseum and put up a
functional ballfield...

Robert Moses'd be proud of those "transit officials"
- -----Original Message-----
From: James Dent <james.dent_@_itochu.com>
To: RSHS List <rshsdepot_@_lists.railfan.net>
Date: Wednesday, March 07, 2001 3:27 PM
Subject: (rshsdepot) Sacramento, CA


>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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