Train and pathway a smart choice
By Andy Peri
Article Launched: 09/02/2008 12:04:25 AM PDT

THE NEW WAVE of dishonest statements about the Sonoma-Marin Area Rail Transit bicycle-pedestrian pathway being made by opponents is a terrible, desperate, truth-distorting shame.

This move is just one of a long list of such tactics being used to confuse voters about the SMART passenger train and its companion pathway.

Recent statements indicating that there must be 100 feet of separation between the train and the pathway, or the pathway will not be built, are patently false. They have no basis in law or reality.

Measure Q, the SMART ballot measure on the Nov. 4 ballot, will provide 70 miles of multi-use pathways and bicycle lanes, most of which will be adjacent to the SMART train tracks.

Using an excellent team of consultants and staff, the SMART district has designed a pathway that is world-class in both its vision and design. It is projected that there will be 7,000 to 10,000 daily users such as bicycle commuters, families, school children, and recreational walkers and cyclists.

The state has many operating train and pathway projects.

Examples include the Sprinter Train that runs from Escondido to Oceanside. It currently has 6.5 miles of pathway with some areas as close as 15 feet to the center of the tracks.

The coastal rail line in San Clemente has a 2.3-mile pathway separated by a small 4-foot high steel fence that is located within 20 feet of the centerline of the tracks in some stretches.

The California Public Utilities Commission has
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been involved with the design and environmental assessment of the SMART train and pathway from the beginning, and SMART consulted Federal Rail Administration guidance documents in planning the pathway project.

The PUC, which regulates safety on California rail lines, does not have specific guidelines for bicycle and pedestrian pathways.

Its General Order No. 26-D does specify that there must be a separation of a minimum of 8.5 feet of side clearance from the center of the track for a number of different structures - the SMART pathway clearance is well beyond this minimum. For additional safety, a barrier will separate the pathway from the rail line.

The SMART train and pathway continues to be the best alternative to reducing greenhouse gases by 31 million pounds per year, giving commuters another choice along the fourth most-congested freeway corridor in the Bay Area.

Yes on Q is the fiscally responsible and best vote for Marin and Sonoma residents, for the region and for Earth; SMART is the right choice for current and future generations.

See www.marinbike.org for more information about the pathway, and www.smarttrain2008.org for more information about Measure Q or to get involved helping with the SMART campaign.

The Marin County Bicycle Coalition urges you to vote "yes" on Measure Q.

Andy Peri of Fairfax is advocacy coordinator of the Marin County Bicycle Coalition.