(rshsdepot) Sacramento Mayor Seeks Unity on Depot

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rshsdepot
Fargo seeks unity on depot Transit officials, preservationists duel over 
railyard 

By: Tony Bizjak,  Bee Staff Writer 

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 Am-trak, 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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