The Monterey County Rail Extension Project extends passenger rail service from Santa Clara County south to Salinas. TAMC is pursuing a phased implementation of the Project. Phase 1, known as the Kick Start Project, includes Salinas train station circulation improvements, a train layover facility in Salinas, and track improvements at the Gilroy station and between Salinas and Gilroy. The Kick Start Project is fully funded with $81 million in state funding, and is proceeding with construction of Package 1, improvements at the Salinas train station. The layover facility and track improvements are ready for final design, pending comments from Union Pacific Railroad.
Package 1: Salinas Station Improvements
TAMC held the pre-construction meeting with Monterey Peninsula Engineering (MPE) for construction of Package 1 work on June 28. MNS Engineers is working as TAMC's Construction Managers on the project, and HDR Engineering is providing design support during construction.
Related work is now underway at the Salinas train station in advance of initiation of construction of the TAMC project. In July, MPE completed the City of Salinas' Storm Drain work to connect the new onsite 48” storm drain to the existing manhole on West Market Street. MPE has begun the City Sanitary Sewer relocation work onsite. PG&E is planning to begin work on their new joint trench relocation along the new Lincoln Ave extension in August.
TAMC hired Smith & Enright Landscaping to mow the weeds and cut back bushes on the portions of the station area property not currently under construction.
Package 2: Salinas Layover Facility
TAMC's right-of-way consultant AR/WS finalized appraisals in July and drafted offer packages for the property owners of Package 2 parcels. Rincon drafted an arsenic cleanup cost estimate for use in the offer package for the contaminated parcel.
Package 3: Gilroy Station & Track Improvements, Operations Scenarios
Staff continues to participate in meetings for the Central Coast Highway 1 Climate Resiliency study, looking at the impacts of climate change and sea level rise to transportation corridors through the Elkhorn Slough. The steering committee met on July 18 and the group is holding a public outreach meeting in Moss Landing on August 29.
On July 2, 2019, the California High-Speed Rail (HSR) Authority announced the staff recommended preferred alternative route for Northern California. TAMC staff participated in technical working group meetings on July 8. Key for the Salinas Rail Extension project, the recommended preferred route includes the downtown Gilroy station, which would enable cross-platform transfers between the HSR train and other passenger trains, including the service to Salinas. The proposed route from San Jose to Gilroy (see attachment 1) is a blended configuration in the Union Pacific railroad corridor, which would provide the option for Caltrain to continue its electrified service on the HSR tracks in that corridor. Staff's reasons for choosing this alternative include environmental impacts, the proximity to existing transit corridors, estimated capital costs, and the number of residential, commercial, agricultural and community displacements. The draft environmental documents for this corridor are expected in December 2019. The HSR staff will hold a public outreach meeting in Gilroy on August 8. More information is available on their website here.
Caltrain continues development of their business plan with a 2040 time horizon. Attachment 2 is an excerpt from their July presentation (available in full here) that addresses the extension of Caltrain service to Salinas. This portion of the presentation is focused on integration with the state and regional rail network, supporting the megaregion vision on the State Rail Plan. The last slide of the attached indicates that in the long term, the rail line between Gilroy and Salinas would need to be electrified to support an extension of Caltrain's electric service, or a coordinated transfer to a diesel service at Gilroy would also be possible. In the near and medium term, an interlining/ extension of existing Gilroy service is seen as "possible". The next Caltrain business plan stakeholder advisory group meeting is scheduled for August 8.
The next meeting of the Northern California Megaregion group is scheduled for August 29.
Staff will provide verbal updates on all activities at the meeting.