Politics & Government

SMART board OKs $88 million in cuts

Board met Wednesday afternoon in Santa Rosa.

The Sonoma-Marin Area Rail Transit District's board of directors this afternoon unanimously approved $88 million in construction cost reductions to the proposed commuter train project between the two counties.

The cost reductions are in response to a $109 million gap between revenue and the estimated construction and operating costs of the project's 37-mile initial segment between downtown San Rafael and Railroad Square in Santa Rosa. The cost of that segment is estimated at $433 million.

The original rail line and bicycle and pedestrian path was to run 70 miles between Cloverdale and Larkspur at a cost of $695 million. The project is financed in part with a quarter-cent sales tax approved by voters in both counties in 2008.

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The district attributed the deficit to reduced revenue from the sales tax and the issuance of bonds to pay for the project. The district said it hopes to complete the entire 70-mile line by 2018 when revenue is available. The San Rafael-Santa Rosa segment is to be completed around 2014.

To save the $88 million, the board approved 10 cost reductions at today's meeting in Santa Rosa.

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They include deferring the construction of the Atherton Station in Novato and the Corona Road Station in Petaluma to save $5.3 million and $11.5 million, respectively, and building only two-thirds of the bike and pedestrian path to save $14 million.

Deferring the replacement of the Haystack Bridge in Petaluma would save $15 million, and reducing the scope of the operations and maintenance facility would save $15 million.

Not installing a fiber optic communications system and a closed circuit television system would save nearly $8 million.

If more funding becomes available, the district will add the 10 items to the project on a priority basis. The top three priorities are the Atherton Station, the fiber optic communications system, and fare ticket vending machines.

Several people spoke against making the $88 million cuts. They said voters approved the quarter-cent sales tax on the assumption the entire 70-mile rail line and pathway would be built.

Some called for a public vote on whether the rail project should even be built. Others asked the board to postpone making the cuts and proceeding with the issuance of bonds until the district selects a new general manager and its finances improve.

"I voted for the train in 2008, but I now have voter remorse and would vote against it today," one woman wrote in a letter to the board.

Another speaker called the train project "an economic disaster." She said anything less than the full 70-mile line is comparable to "bait and switch."

Board member Al Boro made the motion to make the cost reductions. He said the train project remains a public asset and an alternative to U.S. Highway 101, which is congested through the two counties.

Board member Shirlee Zane took aim at critics who call the project
"a train to nowhere."

"I don't think the sixth largest city in the state is 'nowhere,'"
she said referring to Santa Rosa.

The board also unanimously approved a resolution authorizing and approving the issuance of up to $200 million in sales tax revenue bonds to help pay for the project.

SMART Interim General Manager David Heath said the actual bond sale is a few months away and the district expects to get bids on the project in early or mid-July.

        By Bay City News Service


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