Transportation Commission closer to rail agreement, some raise concerns
UPDATE 4/19/18 6:30PM After months of trying to find a new company to get the rail line up and running in Santa Cruz County, the Transportation Commission is close to making a deal with Progressive Rail.
The rail company held a presentation in Scotts Valley on Thursday in hopes of answering community questions and easing concerns.
President Dave Fellon says in areas they do business, they have a good track record, “I think you would find the same reaction with everyone that they are pleased to be a partner and looking to do more. It’s been a good partnership and we serve six states hoping California will be the 7th.”
Several concerns were brought up about safety, environmental impact and noise. Fellon says to reduce noise, “it’s how you handle the train, it’s how fast you go with the train. I mean you can handle the train differently by keeping the train tight and together or having the clanging and banging that you often hear on railroads. So it’s how you take care of the train, how you tight you keep it, how courteous you are with the horn.”
If an agreement is made, Fellon says they first steps would be getting a freight service up and running, “Get the freight right, prove our value. Reduce the carbon, reduce the traffic. Then go after event trains because that’s a great way to start. and then get into the commuter trains. And be really good at each one before you go on.”
But not everyone in Santa Cruz County is on board. Some, like Gail McNulty with Santa Cruz County Greenway saying it would not be a good fit for Santa Cruz. “Progressive rail is a successful company, at what they do. They take coat hanger rail road tracks and transfer them into thriving corridors of commerce. My big question is, is that what santa cruz county wants. I mean the community has been sold on the idea of transportation rail or active transportation, nobody is out their talking about a bunch of freight trains running around.”
McNulty says she has her doubts when it comes to Progressive Rail having the communities best interest in mind, “I fear that progressive rail doesn’t understand who we are, and may come here and do things that we wouldn’t want and intrude and they would have the power to do things that we couldn’t stop.”
Others say they are ready for steps to be taken in getting the rail line moving again. Engineer and long time Santa Cruz resident, Mark Mesiti-Miller, “they have a plan for really investing in our community to create jobs and improve what’s happening in our community.”
Mesiti-Miller says he was there to help with the original planning of the rail trail and is excited to see progress, “I would like to see the rail trail get built, this rail-trail has been in progress for 20 years and we’ve been waiting a long time.”
An agreement could be written up as soon as next week. The commission will let the public view the draft before taking any action.
PREVIOUS STORY:
After months of trying to find a new company to get the rail line up and running in Santa Cruz County, the Transportation Commission is close to making a deal with Progressive Rail.
The rail company held a presentation in Scotts Valley on Thursday in hopes of answering community questions and easing concerns.
President Dave Fellon says in areas they do business, they have a good track record, “I think you would find the same reaction with everyone that they are pleased to be a partner and looking to do more. It’s been a good partnership and we serve six states hoping California will be the 7th.”
But not everyone in Santa Cruz County is on board. Some raising concerns over noise, safety and environmental impact.
An agreement could be written up as soon as next week. The commission will let the public view the draft before taking any action.
KION’s Ashley Keehn will have more at 5 & 6pm.
