Plan-it sustainably - Northern California Section

Norcal roundup (continued from previous page)New North Bay train may have quiet crossingshttp://bit.ly/V3z8PZ“The Sonoma-Marin Area Rail Transit (SMART) district is overhauling traincrossings as it rebuilds the track between Guerneville Road in Santa Rosaand downtown San Rafael for commute trains. Service is scheduled to begin inlate 2015 or early 2016. As part of the work, SMART is spending $12 millionfor such additional ‘quiet zone’ measures as special crossing gates and trafficislands that are intended to keep motorists from being able to drive onto thetracks. If additional work is still needed to meet the requirements, SMART isalso committing another $50,000 to an individual crossing, with the city orcounty picking up anything more, said Farhad Mansourian, SMART generalmanager. Only the cities and counties, however, have the authority to apply tothe state Public Utilities Commission and the Federal Railroad Administrationfor quiet zone status. City and county officials say quiet zones will eventuallybe a policy decision by city councils and supervisors, but it is already beingdiscussed at the staff level.” —Bob Norberg, “SMART looks to put traincrossings on mute,” The Press Democrat, Oct. 8, 2012.Santa Cruz has successful ‘Open Streets’ eventhttp://bit.ly/PyUAK6“Hundreds of bikers, joggers, dog walkers, stroller pushers, skaters, and morebecame free to roam the width of scenic West Cliff Drive [in Santa Cruz] onSunday [October 7] as a new nonprofit orchestrated a six-hour closure of thestreet to cars. The space, typically king to the car, was crowded with peoplepoweredmodes of transport and lined with educational booths promotingkindred causes such as biking and pedestrian safety on Mission Street, aswell as schools, animal welfare groups, alternative energy providers, theSanta Cruz Museum of Natural History, the Sierra Club and more. Santa CruzOpen Streets founder Saskia Lucas, a UC Santa Cruz alum, started working onthe event about a year ago, coordinating with the city and gathering supportfrom various businesses and organizations. Lucas said she would organizethe events as often as the community wanted. She started advising West CliffDrive residents about the closure three months ago, and Santa CruzNeighbors and many others helped.” —Cathy Kelly, “West Cliff closedto cars in ‘Open Streets’ event,” The Santa Cruz Sentinel, Oct. 7, 2012.(continued on next page)Northern News 8 November 2012