I recently
put forth an idea (in two parts, here and here) about where the second SMART station in
Petaluma could be located.
For new
readers, it was long expected that the second station, which is to be the
station serving the drivable suburban neighborhoods of town, would be located
near the corner of McDowell Boulevard and Corona Road. However, financial constraints and difficult
negotiations forced SMART to consider other options. A land swap was recently broached that would
move the station a mile north to a site on Old Redwood Highway, east of
McDowell. It’s a location that much of
the town, including me, finds unacceptable.
Seeing a
possible impasse, I offered an alternative, geographically midway between the
two possibilities, a currently undeveloped parcel on McDowell that is planned
as a parking lot for the Lagunitas brewpub, but could perhaps be co-opted to
serve as a train station with parking during the day and as brewpub parking in
the evening. With other infrastructure
changes, including traffic calming on McDowell, it seemed an interestingly
viable alternative.
However, I
said that I would continue pushing the idea only if I knew that I’d committed
comrades to help with the effort.
Today, I can
report that, although my call didn’t go unheeded, I didn’t get enough response
to continue advocating for the alternative solution. I had two people reach out with offers of
assistance, one with significant enthusiasm.
But both have positions in the community that would make it awkward for
them to take active roles in the process.
They could have provided valuable inside assistance, but when it came to
a public face for the proposal, I would have been tilting at the windmill by
myself, a situation in which I too often find myself and in which I have no
interest in doing again right now.
So I’ll set
the idea aside for now, but with the possibility of disinterring it if the opportunity
arises in the fall, when the land swap may again surface for discussion.
And it seems
likely that the discussion will continue.
The local newspaper recently published an editorial arguing for the land swap, suggesting
that putting the train station on Old Redwood Highway would be an acceptable
solution. The following week, a City
Councilmember and a member of Friends of SMART replied with a guest opinion piece that cited the reasons the
editorial was wrong.
I suspect
that the guest opinion piece, with which I agreed on almost every point,
reflects the collective opinion of the community, but it may take more volleys
back and forth before the issue is truly put to bed. And if those volleys give me the opportunity
to again raise my alternative, we’ll see where that opportunity may go.
I have one
last, mostly unrelated, point on my proposed train station site. In an earlier post, I noted that clearing and
grubbing had begun for the brewpub parking lot.
It now seems that the clearing and grubbing activity was limited to the route
of the sidewalk that is to connect the parking lot to the brewpub. That sidewalk has now been constructed, with
only site cleanup remaining, even though no construction has yet begun on the
parking lot. It seems odd construction
sequencing, but I assume there’s a reason.
But my
comment today is about the design of the sidewalk. I recently wrote with disappointment about those who design pedestrian routes with
seemingly random short radius curves that appear to be more about the
designer’s ego than about respecting the role that walkability can fill in
effective urban development.
At the time,
I’d seen the proposed alignment for the brewpub sidewalk and found it more
curvy than necessary, but marginally acceptable. However, I was only given the horizontal
alignment to consider. With the sidewalk
now built, I can see that it was the vertical alignment where my concern should
have been. The sidewalk seems to have
random humps and bumps as it were designed for skateboarders, not folks ambling
to a brewpub for camaraderie.
I’ll
withhold final judgment until I use the sidewalk to walk between the future
parking lot and the brewpub, but my initial response is a sniff of irritation.
Next time, I’ll
ruminate on the upcoming decision by the Petaluma City Council on the EIR for the
Rainier Connector.
As always,
your questions or comments will be appreciated.
Please comment below or email me.
And thanks for reading. - Dave Alden (davealden53@comcast.net)
Dave, I know I did not respond to your earlier call, but I did heed it, carefully, and have kept it in mind. Glad for another opportunity now. Due to the press of my personal/professional priorities I am reluctant to make an open-ended commitment, but I am very willing if not eager to help advocate or etc. for a good urbanist location for the essential SMART station in East Petaluma. I'll participate in meetings that fit my schedule, write emails or a targeted LTE.
ReplyDeleteJust last night I had occasion to visit the Lagunitas brewery for a benefit for Petaluma Bounty, and I really do like how that spot seem for a SMART station. Although it is farther than Corona from the Petaluma Health Center, the distance is less than half a mile, fine for me and other walkers (e.g., employees in that area), and it is spot on for a Petaluma Brew Pub District. This would provide a lovely east-west connection, brew pub to downtown.
As for my "position in the community," you may well have a better sense of that than I do and I would look to follow your direction in this project. As a West Side resident, I very very much want good connection/relations with East Petaluma. I think a healthy community requires it — as well as my own values, and an intelligent location for SMART is critical for this. I am grateful for your thoughtful analyses and work on this.