Traffic & Transit
SMART To Fund 2nd Petaluma Station With Real Estate Deal
In a real estate transaction expected to close escrow in November, SMART is selling a 4.48-acre property for $8 million.
PETALUMA, CA — The Sonoma-Marin Area Rail Transit District announced its plans to build a second SMART station in Petaluma by selling a piece of property owned in downtown Petaluma.
In a real estate transaction expected to close escrow in November, SMART is selling a 4.48-acre property for $8 million. This week, SMART's Board of Directors approved putting the $8 million toward the design and construction of a station at Corona Road and North McDowell Boulevard.
"I am grateful that in these financial times, the Board agreed to set aside these funds for a second station in Petaluma," said David Rabbitt, a Sonoma County supervisor and member of SMART's Board of Directors. "The future station’s proximity to SRJC’s Petaluma campus and residential neighborhoods provides opportunities to more people to green up their transportation by riding transit."
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The deal, according to SMART Board Chair Eric Lucan, is the result of tireless negotiation efforts between the city of Petaluma, Lomas Partners and SMART.
"Since the inception of SMART, it was planned for Petaluma to have two stations, one in Downtown Petaluma and a second station in the north," Lucan said.
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Petaluma Mayor Teresa Barrett said the station will be beneficial to the residents of northeast Petaluma who currently have to travel far for public transportation by train.
"Right now everybody who wants to use the train in Petaluma either has to drive downtown, which is usually extremely congested, or they have to go to the Rohnert Park station, Barrett said. "This extends service to people on the north side of our town."
The new SMART station may cost more than $8 million, and if so, it will be developed when SMART has the funds for it, according to Barrett.
"If it comes in at $8 million or less to develop, it will get developed within the next development phase. If it costs more than $8 million, then it will be developed when SMART has the ability to do so," Barrett said.
Bay City News Service contributed to this report.
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