2nd SMART stop a must for Petaluma

The Sonoma-Marin Area Rail Transit, approved by voters in 2008 along with a quarter cent sales tax to fund it, promised Petalumans that the commuter rail line would include two local train stations. But due to tax revenue shortfalls brought about by the recession, construction of Petaluma’s second east side station hangs in limbo.

The lack of an east side station is unacceptable to Petalumans, especially since nearly two-thirds of the city’s population lives on the east side and would be seriously inconvenienced by having to drive across town to catch the train at the Lakeville Street station, which is not expected to have adequate parking facilities.

Thanks to a recent vote by the Petaluma City Council, there is reason for hope that an east side station may be built in time for the when train service begins later this year.

The city council last week sweetened a potential deal with a developer in the hopes that it will encourage the construction of a train station at Corona Road and McDowell Boulevard. The city is offering to waive $2.4 million in fees for construction of a 350-stall parking garage at the location.

In order for the train to be useful for anyone in Petaluma living more than a half mile from the downtown station, the city needs a park-and-ride train stop. The 6.5-acre Corona Road site has long been identified as the site of Petaluma’s second station.

To its credit, SMART has never given up on adding the second Petaluma station, and has offered development rights to a piece of property it owns downtown in exchange for development of the east side station.

General Manager Farhad Mansourian commenced talks about a potential station with the owner of a different east side property at Old Redwood Highway, which seems to have spurred the owner of the Corona Road site into negotiations. Either site would be preferable to not having a second station.

The Corona Road site, however, is the city’s top choice, and would be the better option. It is closer to east side residences, and has the potential to anchor transit-oriented developments.

In fact, the city has even designed a pedestrian-friendly mixed-use project planned for the station area.

The ideal time to build the station is now. Once SMART goes live with trains plying the tracks every half hour during commute times, it will be much harder to build a second station.

We applaud the city’s efforts to use creative financial moves to help close the deal, and we encourage SMART, the city and the developer to continue to expedite an agreement to get a station in place before the launch of train service.

Once the train starts running, we don’t want to see it pass by the many residents and commuters who live on Petaluma’s east side.