TAMC proposes to extend passenger rail service from Santa Clara County south to Salinas. The Rail Extension to Monterey County Project is a transformative project that will create new multimodal transportation hubs in Salinas, Pajaro/Watsonville and Castroville. These multimodal stations will be served by new passenger rail service and bus transit that will provide peak period connections for the residents of Monterey County and Santa Cruz County to access employment, education and healthcare centers in the Silicon Valley and points north.
The project provides a cost-effective rail alternative to the highly congested US 101 corridor to access to jobs, education, and health care, and improves interregional transportation and air quality. It also promotes mixed-use, transit-oriented development, affordable housing, livable communities and economic growth around stations.
The rail service is anticipated to be operated by Caltrain in the near term, using existing diesel vehicles currently serving the Gilroy station. Future service may be operated by Capitol Corridor, after its service between San Jose and Oakland is increased beyond the current seven round trips.
TAMC is pursuing a phased implementation of the Rail Extension to Monterey County Project. The full build-out of the Project is seeking funding over five years of the Transit and Intercity Rail Capital Program (TIRCP) grant program, for three different phases of work.
Phase 1, known as the “Kick Start” Project, is focused on the improvements required to accommodate new service to Salinas and to existing Santa Clara County stations. The Kick Start Project includes improvements at the Salinas Intermodal Transportation Center, such as a new, more direct access route, a two-train layover facility, and track improvements. The Kick Start project includes the expansion of the layover facility in Salinas to accommodate six trains, coordination with Union Pacific Railroad on the funding and implementation of Positive Train Control on the corridor between Salinas and Gilroy, and track improvements at the Gilroy station. The Kick Start Project, estimated to cost $81.02 million, has secured $71.37 million from state and local sources and is seeking $9.65 million in TIRCP funding.
Phase 2 is the Pajaro/Watsonville station, at a cost of $29.33 million. The Pajaro/Watsonville station is the connection point to the Santa Cruz branch line and the boarding location for Santa Cruz County residents. Phase 3 is the Castroville station, at a cost of $26.37 million, which serves as the connection point to the Monterey branch line.
Improvements to the Salinas station will be constructed in two packages. Package 1 includes a new direct signalized access point to downtown via the extension of Lincoln Avenue across Market Street, a six-bay bus transfer area, bike lanes and bike lockers, safe pedestrian crossings and sidewalks, and commuter parking. The Salinas station will integrate new rail service with existing service by Amtrak intercity trains and buses, MST local buses, and Greyhound intercity buses. The station also has spaces for taxis, rideshare services, and kiss-and-ride drop offs or pickups.
Package 2 includes a train layover facility, a second station platform, a crew base building, storage shed, limited employee parking, as well as expanded commuter parking.
Package 1 is now at 100% design and TAMC has possession of all properties needed to move forward with the construction phase. Packages 2 and 3 are at 75% design, pending comments from Union Pacific Railroad. Current activities on the project include preparation of demolition bid documents for the April Board meeting, negotiations with the City of Salinas and utility owners regarding utility relocation within the project area, and negotiations with Caltrain and Union Pacific regarding operations scenarios and track rights.
TAMC hired HDR Engineering to complete the Kick Start design and MNS Engineers to perform the Kick Start construction management work. Next steps on the Kick Start Project include procuring a property acquisition team for Package 2 and procuring demolition and construction contractors for the remaining pieces of the Kick Start Project. The current project schedule anticipates demolition of the structures in Package 1 this fall, followed by utility relocation, and construction to begin in the spring of 2019.