Newest articles on The Sacramento Press tagged as "sacramento valley station"

Movement: A photo essay of the Sacramento Valley Station

2011-11-06T21:45:57Z

It’s as if the ghosts of all those who have traveled through these halls before us can still be heard... I find myself yet again walking through empty rooms that echo not only my footsteps, but the seeming sounds of the past

The Sacramento Valley Station finds itself as a hub of transportation for the Sacramento area. Currently serving as an intermodal complex, the facility includes Amtrak, light rail, regional bus services and taxi amenities.

The public portions of the building are those that many are familiar with such as the main hall, or passenger waiting area, where customers purchase tickets or pass through to the facilities outside to the north. Outside are the bus berths, passenger tunnel and platforms, areas for taxis, and of course the rail lines themselves.

What the public doesn’t see are the dilapidated and crumbling rooms, once used as restaurants and offices. Light rich rooms, these areas have moods all to themselves. A large main hall that was used as a restaurant area reverberates densely as the building creaks and moans. Smaller offices are calm and quiet in their desolation.

They all sit empty, unusable due to their lack of upkeep, failure to meet building codes and absence of basics, such as elevators, restrooms and heating and cooling systems.

The building, constructed in 1926, marked the terminus of the first Transcontinental Railroad. Over the years, neglect of the facilities took its toll on the aging walls. The materials, though of quality, have simply outlived their life span.

The building itself qualifies as a historic property under the National Historic Preservation Act and is listed in historic registers, including the California Register of Historical Resources and National Register of Historic Places, among others.

More recently the City has put forth a federal grant application, with hopes of receiving approximately 28 million dollars of leverage money. The funds will go towards revitalizing the entire facility, to make use of the 53,000 square feet of space not being used and rehabilitating the historic features.

In the meantime, the City is now retrofitting the station to meet current standards for earthquake safety, as well as adding upgrades for people with disabilities, using an already granted sum of $11 million in federal and state monies.

Disclosure: Carlos Eliason is a photographer/videographer and designer working in the Sacramento area. He is also a creative media intern for the City of Sacramento.

Light rail signs to give real-time train info

2011-02-18T01:09:50Z

Sacramento light rail riders will soon have real-time information on train schedules and delays as a new electronic sign program is implemented.

In an effort to improve its communication with riders, Sacramento Regional Transit is installing 36 signs at 22 stations in the first phase of a project that will eventually see signs at all stations, said Alane Masui, Sacramento Regional Transit spokeswoman.

“They need the information so they can make the decision that best fits their needs,” she said.

Signs will inform riders about train delays and scheduling issues, Masui said, adding that the information is currently posted to the website, but transit officials wanted to make the information more readily available.

“They will be able to say things like, ‘Trains experiencing minor delays,’ ” she said. “If there is a service disruption, we can let our passengers know so they can plan accordingly.”

Riders interviewed Thursday at the Sacramento Valley station, which has one of the new signs, said they thought the new electronic signage is a good idea.

“You never know when a train’s coming or if you just missed one,” said Terrance Williams, who rides light rail every day. “It’s going to save time.”

Masui said passengers will be able to plan around train delays, opting to either wait out the delay or find alternate transportation such as buses or taxis if need be.

“This will definitely help,” said Bruce Smith as he waited for a train in the rain on Thursday. “I used to ride the trains a lot, and I always wanted the info. It’s going to be more like BART now.”

The signs are currently in test mode, and installation started in November, but they are scheduled to start working with real-time updates sometime this spring, Masui said.

“Very soon, we’ll be posting schedule information,” she said. “It’s currently published in the timetable. It will all be tied into our network, and passengers will know exactly where their train is.”

Each sign costs abut $12,000, and the first phase of the project is part of a grant from state Proposition 1B transit funds.

The second phase – to complete the signage – has yet to be funded, and Masui said that will come in 2012.

Brandon Darnell is a staff reporter for The Sacramento Press.

Strings Express to open downtown

2011-01-11T01:34:08Z

A longtime Sacramento area restaurant chain is taking its first shot at a downtown location in a spot – and it’s taking a shot at a location that has seen several businesses fail recently.

Strings Restaurant Group is focusing on quick, affordable meals at its new restaurant – Strings Express – at 431 I St. near the Amtrak station, which will open the first week of February, according to Al DeCaprio, president of the organization.

The space has not seen its doors open for business since May, 2010. It was most recently home to the 5th and H Cafe, which was open for less than a year.

After 5th and H Cafe closed, there were plans to open a Depot Bikes & Cafe, but that business never opened.

“It’s off the beaten path,” Managing Partner Michael Gelber said. “But with a big name and some advertising, it will be successful.”

Gelber said he anticipates the restaurant drawing heavily on the downtown workforce and Amtrak passengers.

“It will not be full-service, but counter service, similar to Chipotle,” DeCaprio said. “It’s made-to-order from scratch, and the menu items with the longest cook times will be getting out in five minutes.”

“We want to get the lunch crowd, and we will have a lot of take-out options for people who want to grab something and get on the train or take it home to their families,” Gelber said.

Most menu items will be priced at less than $7, and the salad, soup and bread that traditionally come with the meals in a full-service Strings restaurant will now be á la carte.

“You can do a combo where you get a soda and salad or cheesy garlic bread for $2, or you can get the trifecta and get all three for $3,” Gelber said.

Menu items will include salads, cold sandwiches, grilled panini sandwiches and baked pasta dishes, DeCaprio said.

The first Strings restaurant opened near the intersection of Sunrise Boulevard and Coloma Road in Rancho Cordova in 1986. It was followed by another in Loehmann’s Plaza in Sacramento, DeCaprio said.

The restaurant now has 27 locations in northern California, and DeCaprio said he hopes to expand the smaller, faster idea at the corporate level, then look into franchising it if it proves successful.

Similar small-scale restaurants Strings dabbled in in shopping malls were too expensive to operate, but DeCaprio said locations like the upcoming one at Fifth and I streets will work.

“The challenge will be getting the public to buy into a quick-service Italian concept,” he said. “They’re used to burgers and Mexican food, and we believe they will buy into it once they see it is all fresh products.”

Gelber said the curb parking will be changed to a short-term loading zone so customers can park up front, place their orders and go.

Seating will be available both inside and outside on the patio, and Gelber said that at some point down the line, live music might be offered.

For now, however, the focus is on lunch and take-out, as well as catering.

“I think it’s a good idea,” said Lesla Lehtonen, who commutes via Amtrak to Sacramento from Berkeley three times a week. She added that she can see herself stopping at the restaurant.

Hours for the new restaurant will be 11 a.m. - 6 p.m. Monday through Friday. It will not be open on weekends. For more information, visit the restaurant's Facebook page, where more information will come as it gets closer to opening.

Image one: Strings Express location at 431 I St. Image two: Al DeCaprio. Image three: Spinach and pepperoni baked pasta dish – one of the items to be offered at the restaurant.

Brandon Darnell is a staff reporter for The Sacramento Press.

Depot Bikes takes over 5th and H

2010-06-12T04:52:51Z

Less than seven months after opening, 5th and H Café has closed.

Owners Anthony and Tracy Palombo have been struggling to turn a profit on the bistro, which sat in a back corner of the Railway Express Agency Building next to the downtown train station. The Palombos closed the bistro for Memorial Day and never reopened.

"We tried," Anthony Palombo said. "It was a hard decision, but the opportunity came to sell. It was a good time for me to get out."

Brothers Tim and Mike Fallis are taking over the space for Depot Bikes & Cafe Sacramento. A sign went up on the cafe door Friday to announce the transition.

The pair had been working to open their commuter/touring bike shop and cafe/lounge concept in the space next door. The brothers signed a contract last week with the building's owner, Carson Development, to take over the lease for 5th and H so they could combine the spaces. They also agreed to buy the restaurant's equipment, Tim Fallis said.

They had been planning to operate just a small deli at Depot Bikes and had even approached 5th and H about supplying the food. The Palombos later offered to sell their business instead.

The building has had challenges finding and keeping tenants, and the back corner location is especially tough. (The Sacramento Press offices are located in the building.) Soups in the City and Quiznos Sub Shop also tried to make a go of it in the two spaces. The Fallises will take a three-pronged approach to making their business work — covering overhead costs from a single location with several income streams, live events and strategic marketing.

"We're kind of off in a little corner where we're not highly visible, so we're looking at marketing efforts that will draw people to this corner," Tim Fallis said. "When you're located in an area like this that's just coming up, marketing is critical."

For example, the business will offer bike rentals, which will be marketed at local hotels. Bike shop services will be marketed on commuter trains. The city will be approached about cafe marketing inside the train station.

A gritty urban bike shop theme will be used throughout to unify the two spaces, which will total about 2,200 square feet. An existing wall between the cafe and bike shop will be knocked out. A wrought-iron gate with bike parts or frames welded into it will separate the spaces so they can open independently.

The cafe is expected to undergo minor changes. For-sale commuter bikes and bike art, including sculptures made of bike parts, will go up on walls. Work will continue on the bike shop to take it back to its historic warehouse roots. Brick walls and concrete pillars have been exposed. Flooring will be a combination of concrete, distressed wood and quarry tile.

This bike shop will cater to bike commuters and touring cyclists, a concept popular in other U.S. cities and Europe. The new cafe's menu will include fresh, ready-to-go food for commuters and picnic lunch fare for those renting bikes. They may also keep some of the menu items from 5th and H Café, Tim Fallis said.

He decided to open the speciality bike shop about two years after getting into cycling. Encouraged by his wife, brother and youngest son, Chris — all cyclists — he took up the sport after recovering from leukemia. At 56, the former nurse got into long-distance tandem cycling with his wife.

"Somebody might not be able to run. Somebody might not be able to do some other sport. But by acquiring the right kind of equipment, most people can ride a bike," Tim Fallis said. "There's something out there for just about everybody, and it's something people can do at their own pace."

His son will manage the bike shop. The operation will have a half dozen employees, which may include former 5th and H staff.

The bike shop will be open daily. The cafe will be open Monday through Saturday. Tentative hours for both are 6 a.m. to 6 p.m., unless staying open later for special events. Those events will be designed to keep the corner active. Its remote location may then become an advantage because no residents live close enough to be bothered by outdoor music or other noise, he said.

Loyal 5th and H customers are still stopping by to see if that cafe is reopening, so the goal is to get Depot Bikes and Cafe open as soon as possible. Fallis expects that to be in one to two months.

"I don't want them to go away thinking, 'Here's one more time that this corner didn't work,' " he said. "I want them to see that it can."

Railyards parcel value: $52 million

2010-04-29T04:03:57Z

Ending more than three years of dispute, a court arbitrator determined Wednesday the city overpaid developer Thomas Enterprises by more than $2.5 million for railyards land next to the historic train depot.

The land is at the center of current discussions to build a new arena and regional transit center adjacent to downtown.

Arbitrator William Bettinelli, a retired Sonoma judge, set the value of nearly 33 acres of land at $52.35 million, the city manager's office and the developer announced in a joint press release late Wednesday afternoon.

In 2006, the city paid Thomas Enterprises $55 million for the parcel after the developer bought the 244-acre former railyards site from Union Pacific Railroad Co. That money was provided to help the developer close on the acquisition from Union Pacific, said Assistant City Manager John Dangberg.

However, a city appraiser later valued the land at about $8 million, while an appraiser hired by Thomas Enterprises set the value at more than $87 million.

Both sides said Wednesday they will respect the arbitrator's decision.

"We thought the property was worth more (than $55 million). But we did not know how much more," said the developer's independent counsel, attorney Tom Redmon of Wilke, Fleury, Hoffelt, Gould and Birney of Sacramento. "That was the purpose of the arbitration — to have someone finally determine what the value was."

The parcel contains the Sacramento Valley Station train depot, parking lots and existing tracks — which cover roughly three acres — and stretches north to the historic Southern Pacific railroad shops being redeveloped by Thomas Enterprises.

The 32.68-acre parcel includes 17.46 acres of railroad easement. The land is located in the southwestern part of the railyards development and holds historic value as the western start of the first transcontinental railroad.

Bettinelli considered values for about two dozen other nearby properties, such as the Bank of America building at 555 Capitol Mall and two weeks of expert testimony to help determine the price. He has worked as an arbitrator since 1991.

The value was determined based on the expected best use, or how the land is expected to be developed, and comparable real estate prices in the central business district, according to Bettinelli's written decision.

Within 10 days of the ruling, Thomas Enterprises must sign a promissory note to repay the $2.65 million difference in 2012, Dangberg said.

Under the development agreement with Thomas, the city also has the right to a parcel of land, at no cost to the city, to build the 5th Street Garage north of the relocated tracks, between what will be the extended Fifth and Sixth streets.

The Kamilos group, led by developer Gerry Kamilos as the Sacramento Convergence Holdings LLC, has entered into talks with the city to build a new arena. The group is asking the city to donate 9.5 acres of the railyards land next to the train depot for the arena.

Thomas Enterprises paid $218,000 in current and back property taxes earlier this month after Sacramento City Councilman Kevin McCarty drew attention to the unpaid taxes at a press conference and city staff shot off a letter asking the California Department of Housing and Community Development to withhold $17 million in Proposition 1B funds. The back taxes were due in December.

City staff are now looking forward to making more progress with the development, including opening bids for railroad track relocation on Wednesday after the arbitration ruling came out, according to Dangberg and other city staff.

"We agreed to live with the decision," he said. "We've gotten it and now we'll move on."

Photo by Eric Whalen.

Arbitrator sets railyards parcel at $52 million

2010-04-28T23:51:35Z

Ending more than three years of dispute, a court arbitrator has determined the city overpaid developer Thomas Enterprises by more than $2.5 million for railyards land next to the historic train depot, it was announced Wednesday.

The land is at the center of current discussions to build a new arena and regional transit center adjacent to downtown.

Arbitrator William Bettinelli, a retired Sonoma judge, set the value of nearly 33 acres of land at $52.35 million, the city manager's office announced at 4:29 p.m. In 2006, the city paid Thomas Enterprises $55 million for the parcel after the developer bought the 244-acre former railyards site from Union Pacific.

However, a city appraiser later valued the land at $8 million, while an appraiser hired by Thomas Enterprises set the value at more than $87 million.

The land, which holds historic value as the western start of the first transcontinental railroad, starts at the Sacramento Valley Station train depot and stretches north to the historic Southern Pacific railroad shops being redeveloped by Thomas Enterprises.

Bettinelli considered two weeks of expert testimony that were held last month to determine the price. He has worked as an arbitrator since 1991.

The 32.68-acre parcel includes 16 to 17 acres of railroad easement, according to the city.
The Kamilos group, led by developer Gerry Kamilos as the Sacramento Convergence Holdings LLC, has entered into talks with the city to build a new arena. The group is asking the city to donate 9.5 acres of the railyards land next to the historic train depot for the arena.

Under the development agreement with Thomas, the city has the right to a parcel of land, at no cost to the city, to build the 5th Street Garage north of the relocated tracks, between what will be the extended 5th and 6th streets.

Photos by Eric Whalen.

Railyards arbitration begins

2010-03-17T02:48:15Z

A dispute over the value of a key parcel of railyards land is getting closer to a resolution. An arbitration hearing began Monday over land likely to become the home of a future arena and a regional transit center.

On Monday, two weeks of witness testimony began to help determine how much the city of Sacramento should pay developer Thomas Enterprises for nearly 33 acres of prime land adjacent to downtown. The land also holds historic value as the western start of the first transcontinental railroad.

The city already paid $55 million for the parcel in 2006 after Thomas Enterprises bought the 244-acre former railyards site.

But the city and the developer have never agreed on the parcel's value. A city appraiser later valued the land at $8 million, while an appraiser hired by Thomas Enterprises set the value at more than $87 million.

The land stretches from the Sacramento Valley Station train depot downtown to the historic Southern Pacific railroad shops currently undergoing redevelopment by Thomas Enterprises.

The 32.68-acre parcel includes more than 17 acres of railroad easement. After factoring out the depot and land being used for public transit, about eight acres of vacant land remain, said Senior Deputy City Attorney Sheryl Patterson.

Thomas Enterprises representatives won't disclose what the company paid Union Pacific for the land or any other information relevant to the arbitration, according to company spokeswoman Leslie Valpey.

Last week, a sports and entertainment arena task force formed by Mayor Kevin Johnson recommended that the Sacramento City Council support a proposal to build a new arena on the city's railyards parcel in connection with a new regional transit center the city already plans to build there.

Court arbitrator William Bettinelli, a retired Sonoma judge, is presiding over the hearing after the city won a coin toss held by Sacramento County Superior Court Judge Robert Hight. Hight helped the two sides winnow their lists of arbitrators down until Bettinelli was chosen. Bettinelli has experience trying, arbitrating and mediating complex, multi-party construction and real estate cases, among others.

Bettinelli must determine the land's value after weighing all the information presented in the hearing. A decision is expected by April 26.

Photo by Eric Whalen.

Forward. Finally.

2010-03-12T03:09:51Z

Sacramentans should be enjoying a sigh of relief today, and a swell of pride. After months, years, even a decade of back and forth, conflict and aimlessness, there is finally some movement forward on a sports and entertainment complex.

Yes, forward. Thursday morning's decision by the Sacramento First Task Force to recommend - if just recommend - the complicated but far-reaching "land swap" proposed by Gerry Kamilos' and David Taylor's organizations, and supported by the NBA and other crucial organizations, means that we are moving forward. Finally.

There will be a lot of arguing about this for some time. As an assistant to Mayor Kevin Johnson, who is to be praised for making progress on this a hallmark of his administration, put it, "This was the easy part." But the fact is, it hasn't been easy even to get to this point.

That we have gotten to this point is something to be celebrated.

Passions run particularly high about this subject, and there are a lot of very certain, very loud opinions about it. But at least now we have a well-considered opinion from a group of smart, well-meaning, experienced people, including task force co-chairs Lina Fat and Chris Lehane, about the best way forward.

Because no matter what you might think of the deal that would redevelop the Cal Expo grounds, build a new state fairgrounds in Natomas and place a new arena and intermodal transportation hub at the heart of a redeveloped downtown railyard, at least it does this:

It moves us forward.

Those who want other options, be they rival developers or Sacramento's well-established NIMBY crowd, will still have ample chance to weigh in, as members of the City Council did Thursday morning. There will be much jockeying and lobbying, and that's to be expected, even desired. That's how we do it.

There are many moving parts to this, sources of funding still to be identified, political agendas to be filled, and business and neighborhood interests to be resolved. At one point it was noted that this process could consume local government and businesses for the next two decades.

But that's good. That process, as tortuous as it will likely be, will create a lot of jobs, and at the end, we will have a much-improved city, with amenities we can only dream about right now.

And it could begin as soon as next Tuesday, when city staff brings the City Council its first report on the possibilities for financing, and in April, when some sort of timetable could be brought before the council.

The dream is legitimate. As a lifelong Sacramentan, downtown homeowner and resident, and frequent visitor to the current (and previous) ARCO arenas, I have not had a particularly strong opinion about where to put the new arena. I have, however, long been convinced that we DO need a new facility - and I say that as someone who has been to four Kings games in 15 years.

But as I've studied the issue, it has become clear to me, as it has to nearly everyone who watches these things, and as it was to the Task Force, that an arena needs to be downtown. Putting the arena in the suburbs would only continue to spread Sacramento out over more farmland and vernal pools and hillsides, put more people in more cars for more hours, and, worst of all, diffuse our vital cultural and commercial center just when it is finally, after decades of struggle, being established in downtown/Midtown.

As has been pointed out many times before, of the more than a dozen new arenas that have been built in the last decade, few have been built in suburban locations. That was what we did in the '70s, and like many of the urban choices made then, it was a mistake. As anyone who leaves our town can see, the placement of ATT Park in downtown San Francisco and of the Staples Center in downtown Los Angeles has brought new life to those areas. Big, bustling, boisterous new life. Not to mention jobs and lower crime.

Now, some central city residents don't necessarily want new life in their neighborhoods. Sacramento's downtown and midtown have been quiet, nearly-suburban enclaves for so long that people have forgotten that they are, in fact, the urban core of our city. The mix of uses, particularly in Midtown, has led to some problems.

And the fact is, none of us really knows how this will affect us. I've heard dire warnings about traffic, about drunks, about noise, about air pollution, about raised taxes, and about what is essentially fear of what "those people" - sports fans, suburbanites, people with money to spend, people in cars, what-have-you - will bring to downtown.

But as Mayor Johnson has said many times, the time is now. Time is not on our side. And the future beckons: A new transportation center at the railyards will be the greenest step this city has ever taken, and increased density will stand us in good stead into the new century. A new state fair grounds in Natomas could be a showpiece for the entire state that would draw many more visitors here, and could be built in a greener, more sustainable manner than the lumbering old Cal Expo site. And having a whole new city on the old Cal Expo grounds would be greener and give more people the opportunity to live closer to downtown. To their work. To entertainment. To transportation.

To a vital new Sacramento that could finally take its rightful place as the last great undiscovered urban center of the western United States, a crossroads of north and south and east and west.

All of the details will be worked out over the next few years, as we move forward. Mistakes will be made, there will be setbacks, and arguments, and battles and wasted money. There may be a few new taxes, though that isn't going to fly in the current environment. As the mayor's assistant said, what happened today was the easy part.

But it was not easy getting even here. It took a lot of hard work, and thought, and thousands of hours of volunteer time, and negotiations. And because of that work, today, for the members of the Sacramento First Task Force, and the developers and local visionaries who pushed for this to happen, and above all to a mayor who has made progress his hallmark, was a great day.

So, this is a time to pause and take pride in our city for embracing new possibilities, even though we don't necessarily know where they will lead us. It is a proud moment, and we should savor it over the weekend.

And next week, we move. Forward.

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.

Councilman Steve Cohn announces 2010 goals

2010-01-07T06:04:52Z

While Sacramento City Councilman Steve Cohn expects dismal budget numbers for the city this year, he also thinks the local economy will begin to heal.

In an interview about his goals for 2010, Cohn said the city budget will be his top priority. He said he doesn’t yet know a specific number for the city’s possible budget deficit this year, but he expects the figures to be daunting. The Sacramento City Council made major cuts to services last year to address a $50 million deficit.

“In general, despite the tough economy, I’m actually very optimistic about the future,” Cohn said. “So I feel like we’re going to see things start to turn around in 2010.”

Cohn said he expects job opportunities to appear toward the end of the year. Though he has an optimistic view of what the year will bring, he said city leaders must be “very careful” about how they spend money.

Cohn, whose district includes Downtown, Midtown and East Sacramento, is running for re-election in the June City Council race. Since his term ends in late November, he noted that the re-election outcome would not impede his progress with his goals this year.

Cohn is running against building contractor and former mayoral candidate Shawn Eldredge and real estate businessman Christopher Little.

When budget time comes around in May, Cohn will be looking at public safety.

“Public safety is obviously the most significant thing that we do,” he said.

Cohn noted that the city’s reserves are nearly dried up. The city will need to guarantee that its expenses align with its revenues, he said.

Cohn does not want to lower funding for the police and fire departments: “It’s hard for me to see how we can cut police and fire any more than we already have," he said. "That's not to say that somebody can’t come up with creative suggestions for how to better deploy our resources, and so we look to our police chief and fire chief for ideas.”

After the budget, the transportation project at the Sacramento Valley Station is Cohn’s second highest priority for the year. The outcome of the three-phase project will be a new regional transportation complex. A key part of the first-phase of the project, which will cost an estimated $60 million, is relocating railroad tracks.

The city plans to put construction work out to bid and start building this year, Cohn said.

“The first phase is the most critical because it allows not only for the station to be expanded so it can handle all those different forms of rail and transit that come through there, but also to allow the development to occur in the Railyards,” he said.

The project is being paid for by federal, state and local sales tax revenues that go toward transportation projects. None of the city’s general fund money is going toward the project, Cohn noted.

The councilman’s third goal for the year will be to finish a set of enhancements to Sutter’s Landing Park at 28th and B streets in Midtown. The improvements should make the former dump feel more like a real park, Cohn said.

“Obviously, right now, it still has a little bit of the feel of the city dump that it used to be,” he said.

Cohn’s top three priorities for 2010 are among dozens of goals he laid out in a his 2010 State of the District Report. Read the full list of Cohn’s goals on page three of the report.

Photos by Anthony Bento.

Staff reporter Suzanne Hurt contributed to this story. Kathleen Haley is a staff reporter for The Sacramento Press.

State turns over $31 million for RR tracks

2009-12-12T07:05:45Z

Helping to save $20 million in local federal stimulus money, the state of California on Thursday ponied up $31 million in Prop. 1B funding for projects connected to Sacramento's future regional transportation center.

The Sacramento Area Council of Governments and the city of Sacramento told the California Transportation Commission this week that the city would lose the federal stimulus funds unless the agency paid out the Prop. 1B money as promised, said Erik Johnson, SACOG spokesman.

The bulk of the $31 million will be used for a $60 million railroad track relocation, the first phase of the train station and public transit center being built in the 244-acre historic railyards adjacent to the Sacramento Valley Station downtown.

"In order to receive the $20 million, we had to have all of our funds to move forward," Johnson said. "Congress wanted to have the stimulus funding move quickly. They (the state) understood that need."

Darrell Steinberg, state Senate president pro tem, represents Sacramento and helped win state funding for the project. U.S. Rep. Doris Matsui helped land the federal stimulus money, according to SACOG.

The state allocated $25 million in trade corridor improvement funds to the city to help move the tracks and for tunnel work under the new tracks.

The state also allocated nearly $6 million in highway railroad crossing safety funds. The money will go toward the $12 million Sixth Street overpass to be built by Railyards developer Thomas Enterprises, Johnson said. The money was paid to Thomas on behalf of the city, which requested the money in August.

All the funds had been awarded but not turned over, he said.

Reconfiguring and relocating the tracks has been a SACOG priority for years, Johnson said.

The 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, a configuration set up about the time the Sacramento station was built in 1925.

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

SACOG helped the city apply for the Prop. 1B funding. SACOG also is responsible for the regional distribution of about $109 million in federal stimulus funds. The organization earmarked $20 million for the railroad tracks project, the largest single project receiving those funds, Johnson said.

Sacramento Mayor Kevin Johnson said he was happy the California Transportation Commission has allocated the funding for the transportation center and the Railyards.

"This project is important to revitalizing our downtown and will be a tremendous regional asset as new residents, visitors and workers come in and out of this area," he said in a prepared statement.

Photos by Suzanne Hurt, a staff reporter for The Sacramento Press.

Pile-driving tests begin at Railyards

2009-11-04T04:55:06Z

Test pile-driving began Tuesday at Sacramento's historic railyard as the site's developers prepare for bridge construction.

The sights and sounds were a sample of what's to come in about four months when foundation work starts for bridges on Fifth and Sixth streets.

At that time, the developers at Thomas Enterprises realize some neighbors may be annoyed by the booms of about 400 piles being driven into the earth. But the noise won't be the same to all ears, they said.

"To us, it's the sound of progress," said Leslie Valpey, the project's development coordinator. "And activity at a time when there's not a lot of activity."

That sound also represents the historic Southern Pacific railyards coming to life again after decades of disuse and decay.

Other infrastructure work has already been done elsewhere on the site, where a $6-billion mixed-use district containing a new regional transportation center is expected to be built over the next 20 years.

Infrastructure work includes the initial grading of Railyards Boulevard and northern portions of Fifth and Sixth streets. Abatement inside the historic Central Shops and building up the elevated 10-acre Vista Park with soil has also begun.

The bridges will be built in the section of the 244-acre site that lies closest to downtown. The two bridges will provide a way for extensions of the two streets to travel over new, relocated tracks and into the heart of the Railyards.

Work crews are using a 120-foot crane to drive six test piles there this week. The piles create the bridges' foundations.

"The most important thing is really these (piles), because that's what's holding the bridge when it goes up," said Elias Rashmawi, director of land redevelopment for the project. "It's the foundation work."

Two types of piles — an H pile and a pipe pile — are being driven into the ground at three locations. Crews drive a 60-foot pile into the ground, weld a second of the same length on to that, and drive the entire pile down 115 to 118 feet, he said.

The piles go through sand, then gravel, then a layer of sand and gravel and silty sand, as well as water, because an aquifer starts 20 feet below the ground, he said.

Readings are taken on resistance, load and stress, to show how much capacity the piles can handle. The tests help the designers and installers determine which type of pile to use and at what depths and where. Pile driving for the bridge is expected to take one to two months.

The bridges will be built over the tracks, and two pedestrian tunnels will be built under the tracks. One tunnel will start at the historic Sacramento Valley Station and the other at Old Sacramento. Bridge construction is expected to be finished by next fall.

Track relocation work, which will be overseen by the city of Sacramento, will be done at the same time, according to Thomas Enterprises Vice President Suheil Totah. New tracks will be laid and trains will begin using those before the old tracks are dismantled.

Fifth and Sixth streets are expected to be completed after that.

Thomas Enterprises is handling all the bridge and road work as part of a partnership with the city. The city won a grant to fund construction of the Sixth Street bridge and the developer was awarded Proposition 1C funding for the Fifth Street bridge, Totah said.

Photos by Kati Garner. Suzanne Hurt is a staff reporter for The Sacramento Press.

Arbitration close for Railyards land

2009-10-29T02:27:04Z

The city of Sacramento and Railyards developer Thomas Enterprises expect to move forward Monday on attempts to put a price tag on key land needed for a future regional transportation center.

The city exercised its right to request an independent arbitrator after both sides failed to agree on the price of 33 acres needed to build the transportation center, an expansion of the historic Sacramento Valley Station into the 244-acre Railyards development.

A public hearing has been set for 9 a.m. Monday at Sacramento County Superior Court to help narrow down the list of potential arbitrators qualified to set a value and price for the land, which will also contain relocated railroad tracks and other infrastructure needed for the transit center and the Railyards development, said Sheryl Patterson, senior deputy city attorney.

Each side will submit five names to a judge. The judge will winnow that to a list of the five most qualified.

Both sides will then strike names from the list, after the judge tosses a coin to decide who goes first. Arbitrators will be crossed off if not available. The arbitrator is expected to be selected and the dates of arbitration hearings set by the end of next week, Patterson said.

Photo by Eric Whalen. Suzanne Hurt is a staff reporter for The Sacramento Press.

Agencies plan RR track mitigation

2009-09-17T01:07:56Z

Concerns about historic Southern Pacific railroad shops and other archaeological resources delayed the environmental review process for the future regional transportation center proposed for the Railyards.

A complicated review process also caused delays as federal, state and city planners worked out plans to mitigate environmental and other impacts expected from the future depot, which will connect with the historic Sacramento Valley Station.

Under the National Environmental Protection Act, the Federal Highway Administration (FHWA) conducted a review of the city's proposal to prevent or offset impacts to wildlife, air and water quality, historic buildings, building occupants and train passengers during construction and operation of the new depot and relocated train tracks. The environmental assessment was approved Aug. 31.

Federal agencies conducted concurrent reviews of the environmental assessment, so the process took less time than it would have in the past, according to the FHWA. The process took more than a year, compared to the average three to five years a linear review usually takes.

Still, the number of agencies involved, the lack of experience some agencies have with environmental reviews and the fact that conducting concurrent environmental reviews is a new procedure postponed a decision the city expected months ago, said Ellie Buford, the city's principal planner for the environmental review of Sacramento's intermodal facility.

"Last-minute" concerns arose over potential impacts to the built environment's historic properties, archaeological resources which are listed or eligible to be listed with the National Register of Historic Places, she said.

Those properties are the Central Shops Historic District, which dates back as far as 1868; the Sixth Street levee, built from 1852 to 1880; the Sacramento Southern Pacific Railroad Station District, built in 1925; and the Southern Pacific Railroad Depot, a national landmark now known as Sacramento Valley Station, built in 1925.

The train tracks will be moved closer to the Central Shops. The future depot will be located between the Central Shops and the Sacramento Valley Station.

The agencies involved want to make sure the four historic properties are protected, according to the FHWA. In the last stage of the review process, a document was added that spells out additional ways these resources will be protected.

According to the new document, known as the Intermodal Built Environment Treatment Plan, the city must assess the current condition of historic properties and monitor the foundation of the historic central railroad shops during construction and operation of the train tracks and depot for vibration and stability. The California Department of Transportation (Caltrans) must determine the protective measures required for each phase of the intermodal project.

A detection of harmful vibrations could lead to a stop in construction and the need to use alternative construction methods, as well as reinforce the buildings, Buford said.

The worst-scenario is that vibrational impacts from driving pilings into the ground and other construction could cause the shops to fall down, said Deputy State Historic Preservation Officer Stephen Mikesell, who has been heavily involved in the environmental review on behalf of the California Office of Historic Preservation.

While that is "highly unlikely," the possibility has led to the need for monitoring, he said.

Geotechnical studies indicated that no structural damage would occur from the construction or operation of the tracks, Buford said.

The state Office of Historic Preservation signed off on the environmental assessment with full confidence, Mikesell said.

"I feel pretty good that the resources are pretty well-protected," he said. "We're confident the city is prepared to do the right thing."

The document spells out the city's right to enter the Central Shops, which are privately owned by Railyards developer Thomas Enterprises, to conduct the monitoring. That agreement had to be worked out in recognition of the public-private partnership which is simultaneously developing the Railyards and adjacent depot, which is integral to design plans for the Railyards.

In addition, the document requires the city to hire a qualified consultant to prepare historic structure reports for each of the properties, in accordance with Historic American Building Survey/Historic American Engineering Record standards.

If the finding must be registered with the Library of Congress, the FHWA must ensure the Caltrans contacts the National Park Service (NPS) to determine the documentation needed for each resource, according to the document. Then, Caltrans must get NPS approval of at least documentary photographs before any construction can begin that would impact a historic property.

Otherwise, appropriate documentation must be determined by the California State Parks Office of Historic Preservation and Caltrans. The document also requires the city to prepare archival copies of the documentation for federal or state repositories.

The Sixth Street levee is important because it represents three distinct episodes in levee construction, which document residents' struggle with decades of flooding by the American and Sacramento rivers. The levee preserves the technological responses used at the time and may contain artifacts. Settlers built the levee, one of the city's first, using anything they had. Specialists will have to go through a section of it to see if pottery or any other archaeologically valuable items were used, Buford said.

The Native American Heritage Commission told the city its Sacred Lands File contains no record of native American cultural resources in the project area. Four native Americans and a group representing native Americans didn't respond to the city's requests for information about whether the site was believed to contain artifacts or significance.

In the document, standard mitigation measures were outlined to protect the endangered Swainson’s hawk and Valley Elderberry Longhorn beetle, as well as bats and purple martins identified as species of concern, or their habitat.

Elderberry bushes provide critical habitat for the beetle. Three elderberry bushes within 20 feet of existing tracks must be moved to a nature preserve or mitigation bank to prevent disturbance from heavy construction equipment. The other bush, which is more than 20 feet from the site of the future tracks, can be fenced.

A survey will be conducted to determine if Swainson's hawks are nesting in trees during their February to September breeding season. If so, heavy construction equipment won't be used within 2,000 yards, according to Buford.

Purple martins have been nesting under a ramp from the I Street bridge. Biologists have recommended planting pine trees to offset the loss of disturbed nesting space under the ramp, erecting permanent perching wires to offset other utility wires that are coming down and other measures that would protect nesting materials and flight. Biologists also may build bird houses for the species, she said.

Biologists must update information about bats, which include the pallid and Pacific Western big-eared bats. Intermittent roosting but no nesting was observed under I-5 and the I Street ramp. Mitigation measures will be determined based on what a new study finds, she said.

Photos by David Watts Barton. Suzanne Hurt is a staff reporter for The Sacramento Press.

New depot gets environmental OK

2009-09-16T02:49:20Z

Sacramento's future regional transportation center has gotten a green light to move on to its final design phase after clearing a federal environmental hurdle, months later than expected.

The U.S. Department of Transportation's Federal Highway Administration (FHWA) on Friday confirmed the city's proposed "intermodal facility" has made it through the federal environmental review process required due to federal funding for the project. Approval was delayed due to the complicated review process and concerns about the impact on historic Southern Pacific railroad shops and other historic properties.

Federal transportation officials, along with other federal and state agency staff, have determined the new depot will not have significant impact on the environment as long as proposed mitigation measures are followed.

The FHWA signed off on the project's environmental assessment by issuing a "finding of no significant impact," or FONSI, for the first two phases of the transportation center, an expansion of the historic Sacramento Valley Station into the 244-acre Railyards development site. The FHWA actually signed off on the FONSI Aug. 31 and then notified the city of Sacramento, the lead agency on the project.

This environmental approval allows the city to submit construction authorizations for phases 1 and 2 to the California Department of Transportation by Dec. 1. Meeting that deadline ensures the project will still get $20 million in stimulus funding for the $56 million track relocation.

"It's a very important milestone for our project," said Hinda Chandler, project manager and a senior architect with the city's Department of Transportation.

Construction of Railyards infrastructure is expected to start within a month after the California Department of Housing and Community Development agreed to begin doling out $47 million in Prop. 1C money awarded in June 2008 to Railyards developer Thomas Enterprises. Following a six-week hiatus, the company will begin building the bridge at Fifth and H streets to extend Fifth Street into the Railyards.

The environmental approval allows the city to get easements and permits for utility relocation and to initiate final design work, in order to show by Dec. 1 that the city is ready to begin construction. The city had expected to get FHWA's approval on the environmental review process months ago, according to Chandler and Linda Tucker, spokesperson for the city's transportation department.

While construction had initially been anticipated for this fall, the delay put off construction for Phase 1 — track relocation — until March 2010, due to the lengthy bidding process that must now be held. Construction of Phase 2 — $30 million in expansions and improvements to the existing depot at Fifth and I streets — is expected to begin once track relocation is complete.

The expansion is expected to equip Sacramento to meet regional transportation needs for freight trains, service operators and passengers until at least 2025.

Sacramento Valley Station sits on a major national trade route called the Central Corridor, whose western junction is the high-volume Port of Oakland. The volume of imports and exports handled by the port via Sacramento has outgrown the 1925 station's current track setup, where freight and passenger trains share three tracks.

This has created a bottleneck for freight trains. As freight rail tonnage is expected to double by 2025, the situation would only get worse, and the Port of Oakland would be unable to handle growing trade.

Building tracks devoted to freight is expected to eliminate the bottleneck and enable a higher volume of freight trains to move more quickly through Sacramento, Tucker said.

In addition, Sacramento's station has not been able to keep up with the increasing number of train passengers. The station is already California's second-busiest train depot and the seventh busiest in the country, with 1.5 million train users each year and a roughly estimated 200,000 others using light rail, taxis, and local and Amtrak buses.

Cities are finding that downtown train stations are easier to access than airports outside cities. Train travel is becoming more popular after a decline that lasted 50 years, Chandler said.

Ridership is especially growing between Sacramento and the Bay Area. Expanding the transportation center to include a bigger, modern terminal and more space for trains, buses and other transportation is expected to draw up to 7.5 million users by 2025, and as many as 15 million if high-speed rail is added, Chandler said.

The station has eight Amtrak bus bays. The new regional center is expected to include 24 local bus bays and 11 for Amtrak and Greyhound buses, plus room for high-speed rail if needed.

In June, the Sacramento City Council voted against its 2007 decision to move the existing station 300 feet north, next to relocated train tracks. Councilmembers changed their minds after discovering an unnecessary station relocation would make the city ineligible to get federal funding for up to 80 percent of the project.

A California Environmental Quality Act review was conducted previously. Under the National Environmental Protection Act, an environmental review must be conducted by the lead federal agency when a project is getting federal funding. The new transportation center will get money from federal highway, transit and railroad programs through the U.S. Department of Transportation.

The FHWA and other agencies have been carefully reviewing the city’s proposal for more than a year. The other agencies include the California Department of Transportation, the state Office of Historic Preservation, the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, the Federal Railroad Administration (FRA), the Federal Transit Administration and their state equivalents.

"It's a pretty good-sized project," said FHWA spokesperson Doug Hecox. "It's something we (took) great pains to be careful about."

The agencies worked quickly to make sure the project wouldn't lose the stimulus funding in what FRA spokesperson Warren Flatau described as "choreographed bureaucratic collaboration."

"Everyone (was) committed to doing this in record time," he said.

To expedite the project, the agencies conducted concurrent reviews — a relatively new practice. Until two or three years ago, federal environmental reviews took an average of three to five years, and sometimes up to eight, while each agency took its turn reviewing the environmental assessment document, according to the FHWA.

An environmental review for Phase 3, estimated to cost $252 million, must be done at a later date because the design for that phase is still only conceptual, Chandler said.

That phase could involve major renovation of the historic station building. Phase 3 isn't funded and may not happen for many years, said Deputy State Historic Preservation Officer Stephen Mikesell, who has been heavily involved in the environmental review on behalf of the California Office of Historic Preservation.

A combination of federal, state and local funding is being used to finance the entire project. Last year, the project was awarded another $20 million in trade corridor funds under state Proposition 1B to fund track construction that will eliminate the bottleneck.

The city expects the state to issue bonds and award that funding within six months. If the state is no longer able to provide that funding, the city is confident the funds can be found elsehwere, Tucker said.

The city applied for $6 million more for Phase 1 in August, and on Tuesday, expects to submit an application for $30 million more, mostly for Phase 2.

An engineering consultant is designing the relocation of freight and passenger tracks, which will be moved north by 300 feet at the closest point and 500 feet at the farthest. The tracks will be straightened to allow long platforms and thus, longer trains.

Tracks will no longer be shared upon completion of this project. Four passenger tracks, two passenger platforms and at least two freight tracks will be built. The new configuration should increase passenger safety while no longer requiring freight trains to slow down as much. The tracks and new, longer platforms will allow more and longer trains, Tucker said.

Relocation of the tracks should take about a year. Tracks and signals will then be tested for three to four months. The new tracks are expected to be operating by mid-2011, Chandler said.

The historic rail station became a government facility in 2006, when the city bought that and nine acres of land from Thomas Enterprises. Amtrak leased the station from Union Pacific prior to the developer's purchase of the site.

The city is in arbitration with Thomas Enterprises as the two sides try to agree on the value and price for another 24 acres that the city has an option to buy, Chandler said. Negotiations aren't holding up track relocation.

The existing station will continue to be used as the depot during construction of the first two phases. Improvements to the historic station will include restoring an entrance at Fourth and I streets, which will highlight the station's architecture and allow passengers to enter from the front.

Once the larger facility is built to the north across the tracks, the historic depot will be used as a gateway to the new depot and as one location for baggage and ticketing.

"We feel it'll be a seamless blend of old and new," Chandler said.

However, the long-term use of the existing depot hasn't been settled. That could continue to be used as part of the depot or for an unrelated purpose, Mikesell said.

Photos by Eric Whalen. Suzanne Hurt is a staff reporter for The Sacramento Press.

Amtrak locomotive gets an eco-makeover

2009-07-23T07:20:19Z

California's air may start to look a little cleaner, thanks to the California Department of Transportation and its project partners.

Caltrans's revolutionary "green locomotive" debuted Wednesday morning at the Amtrak Sacramento Valley station.

Members of Caltrans and its project partners assembled within the train station at a press release to make statements regarding the new locomotive, considered a major step toward reducing California's carbon footprint.

It is one of the 15 F59PHI model locomotives owned by Caltrans and operated by Amtrak that is now installed with a 710ECO Repower upgrade package. The package is said to consist of the latest microprocessor-controlled locomotive engine technology for lower emissions, increased fuel economy and predictable maintenance costs.

The F59PHI models were initially built by Electro-Motive Diesel, Inc. in October 2001 to meet Tier 0 Environmental Protection Agency emissions standards, the minimum EPA requirement for fuel emissions from passenger locomotives.

James Goldstene, executive officer of the California Air Resources Board, explained that in other words, the newly-installed technology in the F59PHI model makes the engine run cooler and uses fuel more efficiently, allowing the locomotive to advance from Tier 0 to Tier 2 EPA emission standards, resulting in a 50 percent reduction of operating emissions.

Sacramento County Supervisor Roger Dickinson said that the development is "an illustration of our willingness to work with anyone and everyone to clean up the air for Sacramentans." He added that climate change and global warming is an issue that must be addressed at the local level by communities, and that the newly-introduced technology makes riding the train a "smarter and better" decision than ever before.

Following the statements, the representatives of Caltrans, the EPA and other organizations descended into the tunnel beneath the Sacramento Valley rail tracks, resurfacing to stop and admire the "green locomotive."

The retrofitted model has already begun operating on the intercity passenger rail service Capitol Corridor between Sacramento and the Bay Area as of three weeks ago.

The Capitol Corridor serves the Sierra Foothills in addition to Sacramento and the Bay area, and it is operated by the Capitol Corridor Joint Powers Authority in partnership with Caltrans and Amtrak.

Along with Amtrak California’s Pacific Surfliner and San Joaquin intercity rail line, Capitol Corridor is the third busiest rail line in the nation with a ridership of 1.7 million.

Capitol Corridor alone is responsible for eliminating 559 million miles worth of highway travel, said Eugene Skoropowski, Capitol Corridor managing director.

Caltrans is working to convert the remaining 14 Amtrak-operated locomotives to this upgraded model — which is the cleanest diesel electric passenger locomotive in the country — as quickly as possible, stated Caltrans Division of Rail chief Bill Bronte. So far there is available stimulus funding for seven of the 14, he said.

Money for the project came from the Carl Moyer Program, a partnership between the California Air Resources Board and local air boards in the state that provides grants for projects reducing pollutants from heavy-duty engines. Retrofitting the F59PHI involved both the Sacramento Metropolitan and Bay Area Air Quality Management districts.

Kevin Bahline of EMD said that the company is in the process of launching the eco-friendly technology globally.

See also: Eco train engine unveiled

Photo Credit: Images 1, 2, 4 & 5 by Ed Fogle; images 3 & 6 by Kati Garner.