Transit

City rebids track relocation

2011-01-27T02:26:58Z

Sacramento transportation officials on Wednesday rebid the city's downtown railroad track relocation project.

Tracks that are part of a major trade route must be moved 500 feet north of their existing location at Sacramento Valley Station, Fifth and I streets, and straightened to allow for longer freight trains. That will enable a larger volume of trains to move through Sacramento and to do so more quickly.

The project will also separate currently shared freight and passenger tracks to increase safety while still allowing freight trains to move at higher speeds.

Four new tracks – two devoted to passenger trains and two for freight – will be built. Passenger platforms, separate tunnels for pedestrians, passengers and service and new utilities will also be added, said Department of Transportation Operations Manager Fran Halbakken.

The Department of Transportation won $20 million in federal stimulus money and more than $25 million in state Proposition 1B money for the project.

But the cost for the track relocation itself had to be scaled back to $45 million. Then the project had to be redesigned and rebid last May after the city was unable to find another $12 million in funding.

“Staff has worked tirelessly to get this project ready to rebid – in between coordinating with a new property owner/partner on a dozen new agreements, so as not to jeopardize any of the $45 million in federal and state funding that has been cobbled together for this much-anticipated project,” city transportation department Director Jerry Way said in a prepared statement.

Sacramento Department of Transportation Director Jerry Way. Photo by Brandon Darnell.

Sacramento Valley Station sits on the Central Corridor, a national trade route whose western junction is the high-volume Port of Oakland. Currently, freight and passenger trains share three tracks in a configuration set up about the time the Sacramento station was built in 1925.

Total cost of the project, including construction management and other work, is about $68 million. Work was delayed while the project was redesigned and rebid, and while ownership of the historic railyards changed hands. The city had hoped to break ground last May.

The project, which includes construction of the Fifth and Sixth street bridges, makes up the first phase of the new regional transportation center to be built near the Sacramento Valley Station. Moving the train tracks also allows further development of the historic railyards.

Developer Thomas Enterprises defaulted in June on more than $187 million in private loans, which had been used to buy 238 acres of the railyards in 2006. The company’s lender, Inland American Real Estate Trust now owns the site and is partnering with the city on the track relocation project on adjacent city-owned land.

Groundbreaking is expected in May. Transportation officials expect the work to take about two years.

Suzanne Hurt is a staff reporter for The Sacramento Press. Follow her on Twitter @SuzanneHurt.

Groundbreaking held for terminal next week

2010-08-14T02:16:27Z

A groundbreaking ceremony will be held for the new, temporary Greyhound bus terminal next week.

At Tuesday’s Sacramento City Council meeting, the council is expected to transfer $4 million in profits from the Sheraton Hotel sale and other funding to finance the project and to cap construction costs for the bus station itself at $5.4 million. The item is part of the consent calender, so no discussion is scheduled.

The total project — including a street extension, parking lot and utility improvements, fencing and other items — is budgeted at nearly $7.6 million, according to a city staff report.

The project will also be paid for with $2 million in high-priority general fund revenues, $900,000 in Richards Boulevard development impact fee contingency funds and nearly $700,000 in River District redevelopment taxable bond proceeds and tax increment funds. Some of the funding has already been approved by the council, but additional funding is needed to cover the costs of road work, fencing and other items.

Mogavero Notestine Associates of Sacramento designed the bus station. Rudolph & Sletten General Contractors, which built the Redwood City City Hall and the California Theatre in San Jose, has been awarded the contract to build the bus station at 420 Richards Blvd. on about 1.75 acres in the River District.

Designers and builders will join city officials for a groundbreaking ceremony set for 10 a.m. Wednesday at 300 Richards Boulevard, said city spokesman Maurice Chaney.

The new terminal will temporarily replace the old Greyhound terminal at Seventh and L streets, the West Coast's second-busiest bus terminal. The city owns the property, and Greyhound will lease it. The bus terminal will eventually move to the new regional transit facility expected to be built in the Railyards development within eight to 15 years.

In April 2009, the council approved using $4 million in profits from the city's $130 million sale of the Sheraton Hotel for the bus station. A year ealier, the city had agreed to split about $50 million in profits from the sale with developer David Taylor and CIM Group of Los Angeles for their downtown projects on J, K and L streets. Nearly $12.5 million of the city’s share went into Sacramento’s economic reserve fund.

The bus terminal project was later expanded to include extending Sequoia Pacific Boulevard from Richards Boulevard to Bannon Street. Construction work is expected to begin Thursday, Aug. 19. The city's Department of Transportation has scheduled temporary closures:

· Bannon Street, between Bercut Drive and North Seventh Street, Aug. 27- Oct. 20;
· Bus stop, near 300 Richards Boulevard, relocated a short distance west through early October and nearby sidewalk closed;
· East entrance to city building at 300 Richards Boulevard will be closed and access limited to west entrance at Richards Boulevard and North Third Street through mid-November.

Suzanne Hurt is a staff reporter for The Sacramento Press.

Greyhound terminal moves forward

2010-05-28T04:25:27Z

The Sacramento City Planning Commission approved planning entitlements for construction of a temporary Greyhound bus station on Richards Boulevard Thursday night, paving the way for the relocation of the West Coast's second-busiest bus terminal.

Concerns involving transients, fencing, pedestrian access and bicycle parking were also addressed during the meeting.

In a unanimous vote, seven commissioners granted the necessary special permit and planned unit development guideline amendment to enable Mogavero Notestine Associates to build a bus station at 420 Richard Blvd. on about 1.75 acres in the Discovery Centre development in the River District. Commission Chairman Michael Notestine, a partner in the company, abstained from voting, along with another commissioner.

The location of a bus terminal would require a special permit anywhere in the city, and the permit for the existing downtown bus station can't be transferred, said city Associate Planner Evan Compton.

"Getting it out of downtown is critical," said Commissioner Phil Harvey.

The Discovery Centre development runs from roughly North Third Street to Sequoia Pacific Boulevard between Richards Boulevard and Bannon Street. It was originally approved for only office and hotel construction. Currently, the land holds an office building occupied by the Sacramento Police Department and the Community Development Department.

The bus station will be built near the Union Gospel Mission and a family shelter on Bannon Street, where homeless people have camped in the past.

The city plans to install attractive wrought iron fencing around the entire site, and additional fencing on nearby parcels, after nearby business owners represented by the River District Property and Business Improvement District asked for fencing, landscaping and maintenance that would discourage transient loitering.

"Our area is swarming with homeless and transient individuals that negatively impact our businesses," River District PBID Executive Director Patty Kleinknecht said during the public hearing. She noted a McDonald's restaurant and a nearby gas station have problems with aggressive panhandlers and loitering.

"People don't feel comfortable in that environment. We all know we tend to avoid those business environments and areas where we don't feel comfortable," she added later. "In this economy, businesses need all the customers they can get."

The bus terminal will eventually move to the new regional transit facility slated to be built in the Railyards development. But that could be eight to 15 years away, said city senior planner Rachel Hazelwood, redevelopment project manager for the River District.

Greyhound will be the terminal's tenant on property owned by the city. The lease with the city requires Greyhound to use security cameras and guards. The new bus station will include a ticket checkpoint so that anyone can't just come and go throughout the station, a problem at the current station, Hazelwood said.

"We want to break the cycle of the problem," she said.

The bus company's lease at its current location, 715 L St., is set to expire in 2012. Construction is expected to start in the fall, Compton said.

Suzanne Hurt is a staff reporter for The Sacramento Press.

Preliminary work starts on green line

2010-03-16T04:31:18Z

Preliminary work is paving the way for the first mile of the Sacramento Regional Transit District's newest light rail line, which will one day run to Sacramento International Airport.

A contractor's crew has begun identifying the location of utilities — water, sewer, electric and phone lines — that must be relocated before the tracks for the new "green line"are laid. The line will initially span a little more than a mile, starting downtown at the Sacramento County courthouse at Eighth and H streets and running north to a terminus at Seventh Street and Richards Boulevard.

The new line is now expected to open in January 2011, rather than November as initially reported, said RT spokeswoman Alane Masui. She said she did not know the specifics behind the delay, except that the project's notice to proceed wasn't issued as soon as expected.

Two weeks ago, 80-foot pieces of straight rail were delivered downtown via railroad flat cars and flatbed truck.

"It's quite a ballet to unload that track," said green line construction project manager John Gaines of the engineering firm 4LEAF Inc.

Last week, a company that specializes in welding rail began welding those into 400-foot segments at Seventh Street and Richards Boulevard. The company is expected to finish welding pieces of track together Tuesday. The segments will be stored in parking lanes on Seventh Street between B Street, just north of the levee, and Richards Boulevard.

Crews have been digging potholes downtown and at Seventh Street and Richards Boulevard to search for utilities to relocate for six weeks. Utilities will start being moved in the next week or so. Track installation is expected to start in June and continue through October.

Demolition also has begun on an old building at Seventh Street and Richards Boulevard, where one of the stations will be built.

The line's expansion to the airport — another 11.7 miles of track — isn't expected to be constructed for eight to 10 years. The first mile is being paid for with local funding. Measure A sales tax funds will finance most of the $44 million project to build 1.1 miles of single track and two stations.

State and federal funds will be sought to build the rest of the line, according to RT General Manager Mike Wiley.

Work underway on train station, tracks

2010-01-28T06:12:30Z

Maintenance work began Wednesday on Union Pacific railroad tracks in the Downtown Sacramento railyards, while ongoing upgrades continue at the historic Sacramento Valley Station.

Union Pacific has started rail maintenance work on existing tracks. Rail cars that are part of a track replacement train known as the TRT 909 are pulling up the rail and replacing railroad ties underneath, said Aaron Hunt, public relations director for Union Pacific.

"We have track improvement projects going on throughout the state currently," he said.

The work is not part of the $60 million Downtown track relocation project, said Richard Rich, development director of Thomas Enterprises' Railyards project.

The timing was determined by the amount of train traffic and loads on the tracks, even though those tracks will be ripped out in a year or so, as track relocation work is scheduled to start by May. Railroad track relocation is the first phase of a regional transportation center being built in the 244-acre historic railyards adjacent to the existing station at Fifth and I streets.

The design and location of the future transit hub must still be determined. Two weeks ago, Thomas and another development team proposed incorporating the transportation center into a new Kings arena if the arena were built adjacent to the existing train station.

On Tuesday, the California Department of General Services closed off a dozen parking spaces next to the train station for work expected to begin soon on upgrading the station's electrical system, said Linda Tucker, spokesperson for the city's Department of Transportation.

Those spaces won't be available until May 15. The station's water system is also being updated at this time, she said.

City workers are designing new front-entry canopies for all the doors and strengthening wall and floor connections, she said.

Workers have also secured the building against pests, updated the natural gas system, repaired basement leaks, removed some lead paint and asbestos, and done other work since the city bought the building on behalf of its residents in 2006. Amtrak leases the station from the city.

Sacramento Valley Station sits on a major national trade route, the Central Corridor, whose western junction is the high-volume Port of Oakland. Freight and passenger trains share three tracks in a configuration set up about the time the Sacramento station was built in 1925.

Track relocation work will include building tracks devoted to freight, in order to allow a higher volume of freight trains to move more quickly through Sacramento. Freight and passenger tracks also will be moved at least 300 feet north and straightened to allow for longer trains.

Light rail ground broken Monday

2009-10-13T03:27:13Z

Officials broke ground Monday on the city's newest light-rail line.

The first segment of Sacramento Regional Transit District's "green line" will run just more than a mile, from downtown north to the River District. Eventually, the line will carry public transit riders to Sacramento International Airport.

"It's the first great step to a complete transportation system. This is going to connect everything together," said U.S. Rep. Doris Matsui, standing at the future site of the line's initial terminus, 7th Street and Richards Boulevard. "We have an investment in an expanded airport. We're going to have to have another way to get there — and that's going to be light rail."

The line will start at the Sacramento county courthouse, Eighth and H streets, and head to the future regional transportation center and the Railyards, then head north along Seventh Street before reaching the terminus at Township 9 in the Richards Boulevard Redevelopment Area. The line is expected to begin operating in November 2010.

The line's expansion to the airport isn't expected to be built for eight to 10 years. While local, state and federal funding is expected to be used to build the rest of the line, the first stretch will be financed entirely by local funding, said Mike Wiley, RT General manager.

Measure A sales tax funds will pay for most of the project to build the 1.1 miles of single track and two stations, estimated to cost more than $44 million. The Sacramento Transportation Authority sold bonds for several projects, including this one, and will loan some of the money to RT until the Measure A money becomes available, said Sacramento City Councilman Steve Cohn.

Wiley praised Matsui, Mayor Kevin Johnson, Cohn, Sacramento City Councilman Ray Tretheway and Sacramento County Supervisor Roger Dickinson for their support of public transit and light rail.

The green line is expected to bring more than just riders. The line is expected to bring money through economic development by spurring infill development in the Railyards and the River District, and by eventually connecting downtown to the airport, said Cohn and others.

For that reason, as well as its contribution to clean air and reduced traffic congestion, the line truly will be a "green" line, Cohn said.

A station will be added at the Railyards eventually, where 50,000 people are projected to one day live and work. The terminus will be at Township 9, being built by Steve Goodwin and other developers. His company reportedly will pay part of the cost of the station. When asked about the funding breakdown, RT spokesperson Alane Masui pointed only to board meeting documents on the agency's Web site.

"This really is a dream come true for a lot of us who've worked on this," Goodwin said.

Suzanne Hurt is a staff reporter for The Sacramento Press.

Eco train engine unveiled

2009-07-18T00:51:02Z

A greener locomotive will make its official California debut in Sacramento Wednesday.

The California Department of Transportation (Caltrans) will present the locomotive during a press conference at the Sacramento Valley Rail Station, which holds a prestigious spot in railroad history as the western starting point for the Transcontinental Railroad.

Caltrans and Amtrak are partners operating "Amtrak California." Caltrans owns this locomotive, plus 16 others and 88 train cars. Amtrak operates the trains and stations.

The first in the Amtrak California passenger fleet, the locomotive has been upgraded to operate using the cleanest diesel technology available for train engines.

“This is really a big step for Caltrans. We took a proactive role to get a cleaner locomotive on the tracks, and we’re proud to see this project through,” said Caltrans Director Will Kempton. "It aligns with Gov. (Arnold) Schwarzenegger's objectives to clean up Caltrans’ carbon footprint, and it contributes to the bigger goal of California going green."

The locomotive -- built in 2001 by Illinois-based Electro-Motive Diesel -- was upgraded in May by the same company to produce lower greenhouse gas emissions and use less fuel, among other things.

The locomotive has been powering Amtrak trains on the Capitol Corridor Route between Sacramento and the San Francisco Bay Area since June.

Amtrak California expects to reduce its operating emissions by up to almost 50 percent after converting 14 other locomotives of the same model to this technology, according to Caltrans' rail division.