(rshsdepot) Sacramento, CA

[Bernie Wagenblast <brwagenblast_@_comcast.net>]

Links:
http://postcards.twobees.com/sc/sc_southern_pacific.jpg  (postcard)
http://www.mirai.ne.jp/~eurocity/photo/usa/sacra01.jpg  (station interior)

Save Sacramento's historic depot project

Brooks Truitt

Last year, Sacramento transit activists and neighborhood groups were
confident that they had achieved a victory which would save the historic
Sacramento Southern Pacific depot as a major intermodal hub linking Amtrak
and Regional Transit. The vision was that the synergy of light rail,
commuter trains, Amtrak and millions of square feet of existing office space
within five blocks of the historic depot could cause an exponential growth
of Sacramento's business and shopping hub, if pedestrian links were only
improved.

Led by Mayor Heather Fargo, station owner Union Pacific Railroad met with
members of Save Our Rail Depot (SORD). The result was an agreement, endorsed
by the City Council on May 22, 2001. The deal was to keep the National
Registry site station as the hub of the terminal and plan the rail site to
maximize passenger convenience. A full environmental study of the terminal
to define the project and program, implemented by the city manager, was to
start within 60 days.

SORD is a coalition of civic, community, business, environmental and
neighborhood organizations that have come together to help obtain for
Sacramento a true intermodal transportation facility that will use our depot
as its hub -- an operating station. Here are just a few of its members:
League of Women Voters, Train Riders Association of California, Midtown
Business Association, Environmental Council of Sacramento, Sierra Club,
California Preservation Foundation, Walk Sacramento and six neighborhood
associations. These issues are not arising between Union Pacific and
"preservationists," as is often reported in the press, but between Union
Pacific and much of the Sacramento citizenry.

More than a year has passed. No environmental study has begun. Consequently,
intermodal planning remains undefined. Clearly, if the city's interests are
to be protected, more vigorous negotiation with the railroad is indicated.

Last March, Union Pacific unilaterally pulled out of the historic depot
project, declaring it would move its tracks northward in spite of the
agreement. UP also wants a new passenger station built to serve the
relocated tracks.

Since 1996, UP had promised to fix the roof on the depot and add a temporary
roof on the crumbling Railway Express Agency building next door. UP stalled
until mid-January, then said it would fix the REA roof. Five months later,
the railroad still had not applied for city permits to do so.

The city has begun the process of purchasing the depot, REA building and the
ground they sit on. Community responses were requested as part of the
required negative declaration process. SORD's response was to point out that
"without acquiring more land, (the city) cannot ensure the continued public
transit functions of the site (the purpose of the purchase). ... The goals
of the 2002 project cannot be met if the rail station has no publicly owned
or controlled tracks." SORD added that this "does not assure that the city
would have tracks at its improved station, given the intent of the Union
Pacific Railroad to move tracks away from the depot. We recommend that the
city acquire 37 acres along with the depot and REA building, thus assuring a
return on its investment. In San Jose and Portland, passenger tracks (and)
depots are in public ownership."

The city's revised project description for the station project negative
declaration threatens both Amtrak train access and historic resources of the
Sacramento Depot. For example, light-rail platforms and tracks are to be
included in the purchase, but Amtrak platforms and tracks are not, posing
the danger that the site will be split and environmental work will be
piecemealed.

The revised negative declaration poses a danger that consolidation of light
rail, commuter rail and Amtrak at a single site is not going to be achieved,
and the strong linkage to downtown will be lost.

Sacramento is not unique in wanting improvements to its Amtrak station, but
is unique in not being able to accomplish this simple task. Nearly two dozen
major California cities have managed to get their train stations and
platforms into public ownership. It's high time Sacramento did the same.

Failure to provide key environmental documents exposes the project to
Federal Highway Administration criticism and could jeopardize federal
funding.

Also, omission of the historic properties survey report and the
archeological survey report from the revised negative declaration appears to
violate Section 106 and F-4 requirements for use of federal funding on
transportation and historic landmark projects.

Sacramento does not benefit from a fragmented NEPA/CEQA process in place of
that approved by the City Council last May, which called for continued use
of the depot and the REA building as the intermodal station, and full
environmental study of alternatives.

Brooks Truitt lives in Sacramento.
  Bernie Wagenblast
  Transportation Communications Newsletter
  http://groups.yahoo.com/group/transport-communications/



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The Railroad Station Historical Society maintains a database of existing
railroad structures at: http://www.rrshs.org

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