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Ah, but you wanted to reach Larkspur Landing and catch
a ferry to San Francisco. If all goes as now anticipated, that
will indeed be possible. According to SMART officials, a
short but expensive stretch of new track is needed before
you enter the already completed $28 million Cal Park tunnel and exit across Sir Francis Drake Boulevard from the
ferry terminal. Currently, indications are positive that a
Larkspur extension will be part of phase one and completed
sometime in 2016.
The Plan
First, realize SMART is a diesel-powered train; it’s not
an electric-powered light rail system like BART. In 2011,
freight trains resumed running on the northern segment
of SMART’s lines and they’ll continue running on them
into the foreseeable future. Also realize that SMART was,
in effect, given the land that comprises its right-of-way
(see chronology), a benefit estimated to be worth a billion
dollars. Currently, SMART train crews are laying all new
track, ties and gravel ballast from northern Santa Rosa in
Sonoma County, 43 miles south into downtown San Rafael
and, as mentioned above, quite possibly on to the ferry
terminal at Larkspur Landing. To date, 17 miles of track
has been laid, all of it in Sonoma County.
“This is a huge project, the largest public works project
in the history of either Sonoma or Marin county,” says
SMART general manager Farhad Mansourian. “By comparison, Caltran’s Marin-Sonoma Narrows widening of
Highway 101 is 18 miles long, and BART’s extension to
San Jose is 17 miles long; what we’re building now is 43
miles long, possibly longer.” In addition to laying 43 miles
of track, by the time the first phase is finished, SMART
crews will have also constructed 10 stations and 41 signaled grade crossings, rebuilt two tunnels and rebuilt or
replaced 20 bridges. “And remember,” Mansourian adds,
“we are also building an operational train system that
includes seven two-car train sets and all the personnel
and programs needed to operate them safely, e;ciently
and effectively.” SMART plans call for the system to be
operating by the end of 2016.
A 2005 Metropolitan Transportation Commission
study indicated 17,000 residences and 40,000 jobs existed
within half a mile of proposed stations. That survey did
not include a SMART station near the Sonoma County
• Steel rail, manufactured in Pueblo,
Colo., arrives by train in 1,600-foot
lengths and is contiguously welded
together for a smooth ride — no
more clickety-clack sound.
• Railroad ties are concrete and
come from Spokane, Wash. A first
shipment of 90,000 created 7. 5
miles of rail line. Old ties were
recovered, graded for quality
and either sold to landscapers or
mulched for compost.
• Much of the ballast, the gravel that
anchors the rail and ties, comes from
the Dutra Group quarry in San Rafael
and looks almost art-like because of
its size and color conformity.
• At Charles M. Schulz–Sonoma
County Airport, SMART’s phase
one northernmost terminus, Alaska
Airlines is enlarging its terminal and
offering flights to Los Angeles, San
Diego, Seattle and Phoenix.
• Regarding train whistles: SMART
has allocated $12 million for
“quiet zones,” areas where
residents request the nostalgic
sound not be heard — thereby
requiring greater safety features
at nearby crossings.
THE FACTS
I’ve worked
for 20 years to
make it possible
to move up and
down the 101
corridor without
a car, bypassing
traffic. It’s
gratifying that
we’re finally
getting there.
David Schonbrunn,
president, TRANSDEF,
a transit advocacy
organization
