By Steve Birdlebough, Redwood Chapter Transportation Chair
Can the SMART Train be a good neighbor? The residents of a working class neighborhood in Santa Rosa are about to find out. Many of them are Spanish speaking and living in low income or senior housing close to the tracks near the proposed Jennings Avenue Bicycle Boulevard and the Coddingtown Mall. For decades they have used an “informal” crossing of the tracks at Jennings Avenue to go shopping, board a bus, or visit friends on the other side of the tracks.
Recently this neighborhood witnessed their crossing being fenced-off. Signs were posted, and notices were published stating that the California Public Utilities Commission (CPUC) had ordered the city and SMART to close the crossing due to increased train activity that posed a risk to pedestrians and bicyclists.
The importance of this crossing was recognized in Santa Rosa’s General Plan, and the Station Area Plan for lands within half mile of the Guerneville Rd. Station. The city had conducted an environmental study and held a lengthy public hearing that concluded with a unanimous decision that the level crossing would be convenient, safe, and preferable to either a tunnel under, or a bridge over the tracks. SMART agreed that a level crossing would be appropriate.
During discussions with city staff members the CPUC staff did not suggest that the level crossing would be unsafe, but they pointed out that unless the Commissioners made an exception to the rules, some nearby crossings of the SMART tracks would need to be closed before a crossing at Jennings could be opened. The CPUC staff is now asserting that a level crossing shouldn’t be used by school-age children! Yet there are numerous other crossings along the SMART line that are closer to a school than Jennings.
From its inception, the restoration of train service in the North Bay—both passenger and freight—has been seen by visionaries like architect Peter Calthorpe and the late environmentalist Bill Kortum as a way to revitalize neighborhoods near train stations. Months before the crossing was ordered to be closed, Santa Rosa officials had submitted the required application for authorization to build a level crossing at Jennings, with all recommended warning lights and gates. Until the grade crossing can be built, residents are being forced to walk an extra half mile to cross 30 feet of railway, the dream of walkable communities is being delayed, and SMART trains have yet to carry their first paying passenger.
You can help the Jennings Avenue neighborhood by letting the California Public Utilities Commission know of the importance of keeping this neighborhood intact, and of the burden that the order to close the crossing has placed on neighbors.
What You Can Do:
Join us at the California Public Utilities Commission public hearing on Monday, Feb. 1 at 7:00pm at the Helen Lehman School in Santa Rosa, 1700 Jennings Avenue (between Guerneville Rd. & College Ave. west of Dutton Ave) or
Send an email to: public.advisor@cpuc.ca.gov
or post a letter to:
CPUC Public Advisor
505 Van Ness Avenue, Room 2103
San Francisco, CA 94102
Indicate that your message supports:
Application 15-05-014 by the City of Santa Rosa for an At-Grade Crossing of the SMART Tracks at Jennings Ave.
For more information contact Steve Birdlebough affirm@friendshouse.org or 707-576-6632