Freight trains and SMART'S future
Article Launched: 07/15/2007 11:05:50 PM PDT

THAT OMINOUS rumbling sound, if you are a supporter of Sonoma Marin Area Rail Transit, is a freight train headed for Novato.
Nobody knows exactly when those trains will roll through town. Or how many trains will use the tracks each week. Or how many cars each train will have.

The future of commuter rail in the North Bay is up in the air, but freight trains using those tracks seem to be a foregone conclusion.

And how SMART leaders and officials handle the freight train situation could play a key role in whether voters approve a sales tax for commuter rail the next time it is on the ballot in Marin and Sonoma.

Our advice to SMART is to be straight with the public about freight train traffic.

Opponents of SMART are having a field day with the freight issue. During last year's SMART campaign, and according to its environmental impact report, about one freight train a day - six a week - was expected to use the tracks that parallel Highway 101 before turning east at Highway 37. Those trains were expected to have about 12 cars. It is now estimated 32 trains a week could roll through Novato, and those trains could have as many as 65 cars.

Officials, including those with the North Coast Railroad Authority, say they didn't have that information when the EIR was done and during the election campaign.

Novato residents and officials, and county leaders, have expressed concern about what 32 trains a week will do to traffic. They are worried about when they will run. If they run at night to avoid traffic problems and possible conflicts with commuter rail service, residents will have to cope with train whistles and other noise.

Those are legitimate concerns that must be addressed.

SMART needs to get this issue resolved before it puts another tax measure on the ballot. How it handles this issue is important because every vote will be precious.

SMART was narrowly defeated in November, falling 1.4 percent short of the 66.7 percent needed in the two counties. That was an impressive show of support, but it only received 57 percent in Marin.

County supervisors have called for a revised environmental review of the impact of more freight trains in Marin. Novato and the county are planning hearings on the issue. Novato's will be at 6:30 Thursday night at the Novato Unified School District offices.

Freight trains are entitled to use the same tracks as SMART. Both systems, if SMART is approved by voters, will have to figure out how to share those tracks. Such arrangements work elsewhere.

But they are different systems, which is important to remember. SMART would not have final control over the amount or timing of freight traffic, which also will roll through several Sonoma cities. Freight traffic is only a controversy for SMART in Marin.

SMART officials must realize that freight trains have become closely linked with commuter rail in Marin. They need to make the public aware of the difference.

Most important, SMART leaders need to be straight with voters. They need to tell them exactly what they know about potential freight traffic and what it will mean to Novato and Marin.

Voters deserve to know. It's that simple. If they sense they aren't hearing the full story, it won't matter when SMART is on the ballot.