Construction
16 miles of mainline track construction has been completed, with recent construction between 3rd St. and Guerneville Rd. in Santa Rosa, and from Cinnabar Bridge to Payran St. in Petaluma.
24 grade crossings have been replaced so far, including the most recent upgrade of the 8th St. crossing in Santa Rosa, where SMART coordinated with the City of Santa Rosa to perform sewer and utility improvements at the same time as our construction.
Station platform footings and walls are under construction at the Guerneville Rd. station site in Santa Rosa and are complete at Petaluma, Cotati, Rohnert Park and downtown Santa Rosa.
Design, Engineering & Permits
Federal Environmental Clearance evaluation for the SMART Pathway is ongoing. This includes conducting habitat and critical species studies.
Design continues on the section of Pathway from Civic Center Dr. to Smith Ranch Rd. in San Rafael -- this work utilizes Bay Trail funding.
The SMART team has completed several project tours with key resource agencies: Army Corps of Engineers, U.S. Fish & Wildlife, U.S. Marine Fisheries, California Fish & Wildlife, California Regional Water Quality Control Board (both Region 1 and Region 2 offices).
The Army Corps of Engineers recently issued SMART a Wetlands permit, which authorizes work in sensitive wetland and creek areas with the appropriate protective measures. This permit can be described as a sort of 'master' permit that other smaller permits rely on. This is a significant milestone and the culimination of a process that SMART began with the Army Corps over a year ago.
Systems & Vehicles
SMART's train seats passed the tests required to meet Federal Railroad Administration safety requirements for energy absorption during a collision. These tests are conducted dynamically, with the test equipment accelerating the seats and instrumented "occupants" to a force equivalent to a low-speed train collision.
Seats for SMART's trains will enter production and be complete in 2-3 months to be on hand for installation in the weeks before the pilot train set is shipped in early 2014.
Funding
At its March 12 meeting, the board of the Sonoma County Transportation Authority approved a recommendation to the Metropolitan Transportation Commission (MTC) to program an additional $1.33 million in federal funds for construction of the SMART Pathway between East Cotati Ave. and Southwest Blvd. in Rohnert Park. MTC will consider all county-level programming actions for these funds in Spring/Summer 2013.