CA: SMART board approves deal tied to stalled Santa Rosa rail crossing, ending decadelong impasse with city

A long-sought rail crossing for pedestrians and cyclists in north Santa Rosa appears to finally have a clear path forward after leaders of the North Bay’s commuter rail agency endorsed the project Wednesday.

Board members overseeing Sonoma-Marin Area Rail Transit acknowledged protracted delays advancing the Jennings Avenue crossing, which has been snarled for a decade in a legal and political impasse pitting the rail line and its top officials against Santa Rosa and its representatives.

The inaction led to significant community frustration, much of it aimed at SMART.

SMART General Manager Eddy Cumins addressed that tension in comments ahead of the 8-2 decision, where Sonoma County Supervisor David Rabbitt made up one of two votes against the agreement.

“I want to be clear, from staff’s perspective it was never our intent to be a barrier,” Cumins said.

The planned at-grade path is intended to serve a working-class neighborhood that has had no easy way to get over the tracks since SMART fenced off the rail line ahead of its 2017 service launch. Decades ago, a road crossed the tracks in the same spot until it was closed and became a foot path. 

The standoff was so entrenched that it led a panel of judges overseeing state utilities to order the two sides demonstrate progress in the talks, threatening intervention for continued inaction.

The agreement reached by the two sides, endorsed earlier this month by Santa Rosa, includes more equitable indemnity language — an improvement on previous terms that, according to city officials, heavily favored SMART.

The road to this point has been so twisting that nearly a generation of elected officials for both sides have cycled through office, publicly voicing their support for the project and pledging to move it along while ultimately failing to do so. Some have led both the city and SMART over the period.

Chris Coursey’s involvement dates back to 2007 when he worked as a spokesperson for SMART, which saw its quarter-cent sales tax approved the following year. In 2016, he became a Santa Rosa council member and later served as mayor. Now, as a county supervisor, he chairs the SMART board.

He insisted the loggerheads between the two governments had involved “good faith” efforts to bring forward a deal agreeable to the city and rail agency." 

He thanked staff members for their work and community members for continuing to advocate for the crossing.

Construction is likely still some time off, but the approval paves the way for Santa Rosa to finalize designs and SMART to issue a construction bid.

Early estimates put the cost at $4 million, though that is likely to change before groundbreaking.

It marked a stunning public display of some of the frustrations that have existed in the community about the stalled project as talks involving elected leaders, administrators and attorneys generated little to no progress.

Under the approved deal, Santa Rosa would take on much of the risk with building the crossing, while SMART retains liability for cases caused by its sole or gross negligence or willful misconduct.

The agreement also better defines the license area and provides more clarity on determining whether the crossing or another issue contributed to an incident and includes language that would require SMART to reimburse Santa Rosa for legal costs in certain cases.

That resolution was not easily won, nor all that transparent.

Wednesday’s meeting marked the first time the SMART board has publicly discussed the crossing in recent years, though board members have weighed in on the deal in closed session, according to their agendas.

Rabbitt, Sonoma County’s longest serving incumbent supervisor and a former SMART board chair, did not explain his opposition at the meeting. Nor did Kate Colin, who represents the Transportation Authority of Marin and joined Rabbitt in the minority.

Gabe Paulson, the Marin County Council of Mayors and Councilmembers appointee, was absent.

The closely watched matter came as a coalition of public transit supporters in Sonoma and Marin counties campaigns to renew next year SMART’s quarter-cent sales tax, which helps fund system operations.

The Jennings Avenue crossing would address a chokepoint in a neighborhood between Guerneville Road and College Avenue just west of Coddingtown Mall that’s bisected by the tracks.

The Santa Rosa City council in March 2015 signed off on a proposal to build a ground-level rail crossing with flashing lights and crossing gates — with SMART’s backing — and it was approved in 2016 by the CPUC.

But the project stalled after rail officials began sounding the alarm following a string of incidents on the line once operations started. The two parties had been deadlocked over liability language in the license agreement ever since.

Residents meanwhile have been forced to make long detours to access the nearby bus station, elementary school and other services. The agency had exhausted remedies to stop the project, he said.

“It’s time to move forward,” he said.

The board majority agreed, despite some members still voicing their concerns about safety.

“We know that the safest crossing is no crossing but we can’t just have no crossings up and down the line,” said Marin County Supervisor Eric Lucan.

He requested the board send a letter to the city expressing their concerns but encouraging the two agencies to partner on an education campaign to ensure the crossing is safely used.

Board member and Healdsburg Council member Ariel Kelley said SMART has tried to balance safety with expanding public transportation, but the delay has left residents and cyclists in limbo. Existing conditions in the area force people to take detours along busy thoroughfares that also pose a risk, she noted.

Under the license and a separate construction agreement, Santa Rosa will pay for the design, construction and testing of the crossing, plus an annual fee of $5,144 for routine inspections and maintenance. SMART will be charged with issuing a request for construction bids, awarding the contract and overseeing the project.

Construction is likely to occur as SMART extends the passenger line north from Windsor to Healdsburg.

Santa Rosa earlier this month filed a request with the CPUC to complete the project by July 1, 2028.

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