CA: Santa Rosa approves deal for stalled Jennings Avenue rail crossing, with SMART up next

A critical connector that would address a chokepoint in a north Santa Rosa neighborhood bisected by the North Bay’s passenger rail line is one step closer to being built after a decade of stops and starts.

The Santa Rosa City Council on Tuesday unanimously approved a license agreement with the Sonoma-Marin Area Rail Transit to build an at-grade crossing at Jennings Avenue.

The deal, crafted by staff over the past month after prior efforts stalled, came after state regulators stepped in and pressed the two local agencies to reach an agreement by the end of the year.

The renegotiated agreement includes what city officials have said is fairer indemnity language for the city if someone is struck by a train while crossing the tracks.

It represents a win for Santa Rosa, which has long acknowledged that while it must shoulder most of the risk with building the crossing, it shouldn’t be on the hook for incidents where SMART is found to be at fault.

Council members and neighbors who’ve advocated for the crossing celebrated the move.

“The community there has been fighting for this since the end of time almost,” said Council member Caroline Bañuelos, who represents the area. “I think this is a really good step forward for the entire community.”

Santa Rosa will pay for the design, construction and testing of the crossing, estimated to cost $4 million, plus an annual license fee of $5,144 for routine inspections and maintenance.

The deal still faces a critical hurdle — approval from the SMART board of directors, which over the years has shown mixed support for the crossing. The board is expected to consider the deal on Dec. 17.

The closely watched matter comes as rail advocates in Sonoma and Marin counties campaign to renew next year SMART’s voter-approved, quarter-cent sales tax, which helps fund system operations.

The Dec. 17 meeting will represent the first time the SMART board has publicly discussed the crossing since at least 2022, though members have weighed in on the deal in closed session.

Sonoma County Supervisor Chris Coursey, chair of the SMART board and a longtime supporter of the project, declined to speculate on whether the deal had the board’s support, but said he would continue pushing for the project to be built. Coursey’s history with the project dates back to 2007 when he worked as a spokesperson for the rail agency and he advocated for the crossing while on the Santa Rosa council.

“I’ve always felt that this crossing is going to be as safe as any on the line, that it will be built to the highest standards of safety and that it will provide a key piece of transportation infrastructure for the neighborhoods near the crossing and city as a whole,” he said.

Neighbors, bicycle advocates and rail supporters have long pushed for the path to be advanced. A road crossed the tracks in the same spot until it was closed and became a foot path. Ahead of its 2017 launch, SMART fenced off both sides of the tracks.

The council in March 2015 signed off on a proposal to build a ground-level rail crossing with flashing lights and crossing gates and it was approved in 2016 by the California Public Utilities Commission.

But the project stalled with elected leaders, administrators and attorneys from both sides deadlocked over who should be held responsible for an incident on the tracks.

Residents meanwhile have been forced to make long detours to access the nearby bus station, elementary school and other services.

Negotiations appeared to be moving forward in late 2023, but the City Council ultimately rejected SMART’s proposal, raising concerns with liability language that city officials said was one-sided.

Representatives of the two agencies have met several times to exchange draft language since administrative law judges with the CPUC in October directed the city and SMART to resume discussions or face further action from the state.

Assistant City Manager Jason Nutt, who has been leading the city’s negotiations since 2015, said SMART officials — who during the hearing held firm the city should assume all risk —were willing to come to the table and adjust the indemnity language.

The revised proposal includes a clause that carves out incidents caused by SMART’s sole negligence or willful misconduct.

It also better defines the license area and provides more clarity on determining whether the crossing or another issue contributed to an incident.

Under the earlier proposal, Santa Rosa would’ve been liable for any incident that occurred on a stretch of track between the North Santa Rosa station just south of Guerneville Road to College Avenue.

The updated language states the city could be liable for incidents that occur within or adjacent to the crossing, which Nutt said will allow the city to better defend itself against a legal claim.

The agreement also incorporates changes that would require SMART to reimburse Santa Rosa for legal costs in certain cases.

Nutt said he and city legal staff carefully reviewed the changes and strongly recommended that council approved the agreement.

Any additional tweaks likely would delay SMART’s vote and would force the city to again face state regulators, he said.

Council member Victoria Fleming, in approving the agreement, thanked staff for their work and the community for keeping up pressure on the city and SMART over the years.

If the SMART board signs off on the deal, Santa Rosa will obtain final design approvals from the CPUC’s Rail Safety Division. SMART will be charged with issuing a request for construction bids, awarding the contract and overseeing the project.

Nutt during the October CPUC hearing said city staffers anticipate construction could be two years away and would coincide with construction on the passenger line north from Windsor to Healdsburg.

A decade on, Coursey acknowledged progress has been slow, but the additional negotiations allowed staffers to come to an agreement they felt comfortable with. He said he looked forward to discussing the deal as a board later this month.

“I think this has been a matter of keeping at the hard work,” he said. “There have been disagreements about the language, disagreements about what the language actually means, but for me this has always been about finding a way to get to yes.”

“That has been a long and winding road and we’re not there yet but I think we’re closer than we’ve ever been,” he said.

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