In 2018, MST completed the Monterey Bay Area Feasibility Study of Bus Operations on State Route 1 Shoulders and the Monterey Branch Line. The study analyzed seven alternatives and concluded that implementing a one-way bus rapid transit corridor on a segment of the Monterey Branch Line would provide the best cost to benefit. At the August 6, 2018 Rail Policy Committee meeting, MST staff presented an overview of the feasibility study, including next steps.
In Fall 2019, MST hired Kimley-Horn for the environmental review and preliminary design phase of work, and the project officially kicked-off on November 21, 2019. The following outlines the project's progress regarding stakeholder coordination, project design and funding.
Stakeholder Coordination
MST and TAMC staff continue to meet with key stakeholders. The project team has generally received good input and positive feedback from engaged stakeholders. In recent months, the project team has been focused on coordinating with the cities of Marina, Sand City and Seaside and Caltrans District 5.
The project team is planning to institute a virtual public outreach program. As part of the outreach, the project team is developing video simulations. The first of these simulations will be presented during the Committee meeting.
Additionally, the project has formally entered the environmental phase, with the release of the Notice of Preparation on August 13, 2020. TAMC submitted a comment letter in response which is available as a web attachment to this report.
Project Design
The SURF! Busway and Bus Rapid Transit project is nearing 15% design. During the Committee meeting, staff will share of the latest exhibits of the project. An overview map is provided as an attachment to this report.
The Busway enters the Monterey Branch Line right-of-way at Del Monte Boulevard and Palm Avenue in Marina, and exists the rail right-of-way at California Avenue and Fremont Street in Sand City.
The busway parallels Highway 1 for approximately six miles. The majority of the busway runs on the east side of the rail right-of-way, with minimal crossing points over the rail tracks. There are three proposed crossings over the rail line due to physical and geographic constraints in the corridor, and to minimize project costs. The proposed crossings over the rail tracks are as follows:
- Crossing of the rail tracks before 8th Street due to the existing bridge columns east of the rail. This will help avoid the need to impact the Caltrans bridge structure.
- Crossing the rail tracks to reconnect with the east side of the corridor before a connection at 5th Street. The connection at 5th Street connects the buses with a newly proposed Multimodal Transit Center.
- After re-entering the rail right-of-way outside the 5th Street Transit Center, the busway runs the remainder of the way on the east side of the rail right-of-way until existing the rail right-of-way at California Avenue and Fremont Street, where the buses re-enter mixed traffic.
The proposed alignment intends to protect and preserve the rail tracks while minimizing project costs. Crossing the rail tracks at these three locations minimizes the need for tall retaining walls which dramatically impact construction costs. Additionally the proposed rail track crossings reduce visual impacts and are further away from State Parks' proposed campground project and protected habitat.
Funding
MST is actively coordinating with the Federal Transit Administration (FTA) to apply for a Capital Investment Grant, a discretionary grant program to support transit capital investments including busway/bus rapid transit. The project has been accepted into the Project Development phase of FTA’s Capital Investments Grants program. Per the requirements of the Fixing America’s Surface Transportation (FAST) Act, the following activities must be completed during project development:
- Complete the environmental review process;
- Select a locally preferred alternative;
- Have the locally preferred alternative adopted into the fiscally constrained long range transportation plan; and
- Complete the activities required to develop sufficient information for evaluation and rating under the Capital Investment Grant criteria.
The project team also anticipates applying again to the Transit and Intercity Rail Capital Program this upcoming cycle.
Timeline
The overall project timeline for the SURF! Busway and Bus Rapid Transit Project is:
- Data collection (Fall 2019-Summer 2020)
- Preliminary engineering and design (Summer 2020-Winter 2020/21)
- Environmental compliance (Summer 2020-Winter 2020/21)
- Final engineering and design (Summer 2022-Fall 2023)
- Construction (Beginning Spring 2024)
- Operation (Beginning Spring 2027)