The City of Novato settled its lawsuit with the North Coast Railroad Authority on Nov. 4, enabling the NCRA to award $8.9 million in contracts for bridge and track repair at its Nov. 12 meeting.
The settlement, which ends an injunction against the NCRA that had prevented the beleaguered public agency from proceeding with many of its planned repairs, requires the NCRA to pay Novato’s legal fees and create “quiet zones” at 13 rail crossings, costing the NCRA $1.3 million. In addition to the new contracts, the lifting of the injunction allowed NCRA to give a notice to proceed on $3.9 million in bridge repair. This work is all part of rebuilding the Russian River Division, commonly called the “South End,” a $50 million project to reopen the freight railroad from Windsor in Sonoma County to Lombard in Napa County. A separate Sonoma Marin Area Rapid Transit (SMART) project between Windsor and Larkspur in Marin County, will share the track between Windsor and Novato. Passage of Measure Q by Marin and Sonoma County voters on Nov. 4 means that project, which proposes passenger rail service and a non-motorized trail along its entire 70-mile length, will be funded with a ¼ percent sales tax in those two counties.
Flawed and Delayed Guidelines
At its Nov. 12 meeting, NCRA delayed its adoption of “Rail with Trail” guidelines because the California Coastal Commission had not been notified and requested opportunity to comment and had “strong opinions” about the guidelines. The comment period was extended to Dec. 15 and any decision will not be made until Jan, 2009 or later. The guidelines are intended to provide standards for trail development next to NCRA track. The City of Willits, Friends of SMART, Green Wheels, Humboldt Bay Bicycle Commuter Association, Marin County Bicycle Coalition, Rails to Trails Conservancy, Redwood Community Action Agency, San Francisco Bay Trail Project, Sonoma County Bicycle Coalition, Sonoma County Trails Council, Trails Trust of Humboldt Bay, Transportation Alternative for Marin, the County of Humboldt and other groups have already expressed concern over the draft trail guidelines, which, due to setback requirements and other issues, could make trail development impossible on most the NCRA right-of-way. The draft guidelines would require trails to be 30 to 100 feet from the tracks, depending on train speeds. Because most of the right-of-way is 50 feet wide, this would preclude trail development except in areas where train speeds are 25 mph or less, the track is far to one side of the right-of-way, and there are no constraints such as wetlands or terrain that prevent the trail from being located on the other side of the right-of-way, a condition that does not likely exist anywhere.
Where are the Promised Canyon Studies?
At a Sept 11 Humboldt Bay Harbor, Recreation and Conservation District meeting, NCRA President Allan Hemphill made a presentation in which he said that two studies, a geological study and an aerial survey of the Eel River Canyon were nearly complete, and would be available within two weeks. Over two months later, the studies are not available on the website. North Coast residents have become used to empty promises on the return of rail to the Humboldt Bay. A $3.9 million Environmental Impact Report studying the canyon section was programmed in Nov. of 2006, but after Novato filed suit against the NCRA in Sept. 2007 for failing to complete environmental review of its entire project before rebuilding the south end, what’s called “segmentation” in CEQA-speak, the NCRA changed its stance, apparently choosing to strategically ignore any plans for reconstruction north of Willits. Instead of studying the canyon, the NCRA chose to claim it had no plans north of Willits, and the money was redirected into south end repairs in Dec. 2007. Past estimates for rebuilding the line all the way to Humboldt Bay have ranged from $150 million to $680 million. Some railroad critics have suggested that further deterioration since the $680 million FEMA estimate was made in 1998, as well as inflation, would put the cost close to $1 billion, today. According to Hemphill, the NCRA has no plans for railroad reconstruction north of Willits, but because of its mandate to restore rail service to Humboldt Bay, it has steadfastly refused to consider railbanking as a way to temporarily use the railroad rights-of-way as trails until a railroad to Humboldt Bay becomes feasible.
