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SMART Larkspur extension begins rolling toward summer 2018 opening
Author: The Odd Duck
Date: 02-09-2016 - 21:37
SMART Larkspur extension begins rolling toward summer 2018 opening
[www.marinij.com]
The revamping of the Cal Park Hill Tunnel was part of the plan to get rail service to Larkspur. Frankie Frost — Marin Independent Journal
By Mark Prado, Marin Independent Journal
POSTED: 02/09/16,
Sonoma-Marin Area Rail Transit’s push to get trains to the Larkspur Ferry Terminal continues as the agency seeks to draw down its first installment of $625,000 for planning work.
SMART officials celebrated in December after learning they would receive $22.5 million to extend planned commuter rail service to Larkspur as part of the Federal Transit Administration’s “Small Starts” grant program. Those dollars, combined with another $20 million from the Metropolitan Transportation Commission, are expected to be enough to build the extension.
Now SMART is applying for some of that money to pay for engineering and project development for the San Rafael-to-Larkspur line. The money comes through the Metropolitan Transportation Commission from 2004’s voter-approved Regional Measure 2, which raised Bay Area state bridge tolls by $1.
The extension will connect rail service to the Larkspur Ferry Terminal, where boats can take commuters into San Francisco, making it a regional project. For years the plan was criticized as a “train to nowhere” because it didn’t have a connection to a regional system.
“We are now in the mix in the Bay Area as a regional transit agency,” said SMART board member Jake Mackenzie. “We are an entity.”
Work on the Larkspur extension would start in summer 2017, with initial estimates putting trains rolling into the city in summer 2018, officials said.
Marin rail stops now include Larkspur, downtown San Rafael, the Marin Civic Center and stations in Novato at Hamilton and Atherton Avenue/San Marin Drive. The Santa Rosa Airport will be the initial terminus in Sonoma County.
Work has already been done on a key stretch to get service to Larkspur from San Rafael. In December 2010 the revamped Cal Park Hill Tunnel, an 1,100-foot tube, was opened at a cost of $28 million. Now work starts to get operating rails from the San Rafael Transit Center across Andersen Drive and to the tunnel.
When voters in Sonoma and Marin counties approved a quarter-cent sales tax in 2008 to fund SMART, the project was for train service from Cloverdale to Larkspur, along with a path for pedestrians and bicyclists.
But the downturn in the economy left the plan without full funding and the ability to borrow the needed money to complete all the work as promised. Now the project is being phased, and the $438 million San Rafael-to-Santa Rosa line is being tested and is set to open later this year.
The Larkspur extension would represent the next phase of the project.
“I think getting to the Larkspur Ferry is important for Marin and Sonoma residents,” said Judy Arnold, SMART board chairwoman and Marin County supervisor. “More Marin residents are using the Santa Rosa Airport and more Sonoma residents are using the ferry. The regional connection is key along with getting cars off the highway.”
ABOUT THE AUTHOR
Reach the author at mprado@marinij.com or follow Mark on Twitter: @MarkPradoIJ.
[www.marinij.com]
The revamping of the Cal Park Hill Tunnel was part of the plan to get rail service to Larkspur. Frankie Frost — Marin Independent Journal
By Mark Prado, Marin Independent Journal
POSTED: 02/09/16,
Sonoma-Marin Area Rail Transit’s push to get trains to the Larkspur Ferry Terminal continues as the agency seeks to draw down its first installment of $625,000 for planning work.
SMART officials celebrated in December after learning they would receive $22.5 million to extend planned commuter rail service to Larkspur as part of the Federal Transit Administration’s “Small Starts” grant program. Those dollars, combined with another $20 million from the Metropolitan Transportation Commission, are expected to be enough to build the extension.
Now SMART is applying for some of that money to pay for engineering and project development for the San Rafael-to-Larkspur line. The money comes through the Metropolitan Transportation Commission from 2004’s voter-approved Regional Measure 2, which raised Bay Area state bridge tolls by $1.
The extension will connect rail service to the Larkspur Ferry Terminal, where boats can take commuters into San Francisco, making it a regional project. For years the plan was criticized as a “train to nowhere” because it didn’t have a connection to a regional system.
“We are now in the mix in the Bay Area as a regional transit agency,” said SMART board member Jake Mackenzie. “We are an entity.”
Work on the Larkspur extension would start in summer 2017, with initial estimates putting trains rolling into the city in summer 2018, officials said.
Marin rail stops now include Larkspur, downtown San Rafael, the Marin Civic Center and stations in Novato at Hamilton and Atherton Avenue/San Marin Drive. The Santa Rosa Airport will be the initial terminus in Sonoma County.
Work has already been done on a key stretch to get service to Larkspur from San Rafael. In December 2010 the revamped Cal Park Hill Tunnel, an 1,100-foot tube, was opened at a cost of $28 million. Now work starts to get operating rails from the San Rafael Transit Center across Andersen Drive and to the tunnel.
When voters in Sonoma and Marin counties approved a quarter-cent sales tax in 2008 to fund SMART, the project was for train service from Cloverdale to Larkspur, along with a path for pedestrians and bicyclists.
But the downturn in the economy left the plan without full funding and the ability to borrow the needed money to complete all the work as promised. Now the project is being phased, and the $438 million San Rafael-to-Santa Rosa line is being tested and is set to open later this year.
The Larkspur extension would represent the next phase of the project.
“I think getting to the Larkspur Ferry is important for Marin and Sonoma residents,” said Judy Arnold, SMART board chairwoman and Marin County supervisor. “More Marin residents are using the Santa Rosa Airport and more Sonoma residents are using the ferry. The regional connection is key along with getting cars off the highway.”
ABOUT THE AUTHOR
Reach the author at mprado@marinij.com or follow Mark on Twitter: @MarkPradoIJ.
| Subject | Written By | Date/Time (PST) |
|---|---|---|
 SMART Larkspur extension begins rolling toward summer 2018 opening |
The Odd Duck | 02-09-2016 - 21:37 |