Natomas Residents Concerned About Possible Maintenance Station For New Commuter Rail Line

The San Joaquin Regional Rail Commission and San Joaquin Rail Authority say they want to connect Merced and Sacramento with a new commuter line. But some Natomas residents are worried about the future location of a train maintenance station.   

The $900 million project would provide commuter service along existing Union Pacific tracks from Stockton to Natomas. Trains would make the trip seven times a day and need a place to stay overnight.

The railroad commission is considering two locations between Elkhorn Boulevard and Del Paso Road for the new maintenance facility. The two sites are on either side of East Levee Road in the largely-undeveloped area of the city known as “The Panhandle.” The area was annexed into the city of Sacramento in April of this year.

Dolores Santos is a member of the Natomas Community Coalition, which is a combination of local community groups. She says she's lived near the train tracks for 40 years and would welcome the new line, but she's worried about a noisy, smelly maintenance facility in the middle of a 132-acre field west of the levee — known as the Krumenacher Ranch — which is closer to homes.

"This is a residential neighborhood with children and schools and people going to and from work,” Santos says. “I don’t want to live behind a rail maintenance station where trains are coming in and out all night long and being maintained and fueled. There's risk."

Nick Avdis lives nearby and says he supports the site east of the levee, which is in unincorporated Sacramento County. 

“There is a heavy industrial area there now. There's an asphalt plant, a concrete plant, a fertilizer plant and several large car yards, uses that are, what I would consider incompatible with a rail maintenance facility,” Avdis said. 

Kevin Sheridan, the rail commission’s project director, says the Natomas station and maintenance facility are the “most important parts of the project.” The commission is collecting statements from the public and says it is considering both sides of the levee. 

But Sheridan also says the east side of the levee could be more expensive because there are multiple landowners and businesses already there that might require buyouts if the maintenance facility were to significantly and adversely affect their businesses.

One of the schools Santos talks about is actually the unfinished East Natomas Education Center, which was started in 2006 and abandoned in 2008. Local developers hope to revive the project and build homes here. 

There is also a planned walking and biking trail network for the area as part of a regional plan designed by the city’s community development department. The city’s Community Development Department has suggested the rail commission and rail authority consider another site besides the Krumenacher Ranch.

Sheridan says a completed school, new homes and existing residents wouldn't be affected since this facility would be for commuter trains, not freight trains. He compared it to an existing facility in Stockton that is about 1,000 feet from the nearest home but has received no complaints about noise from the normal day-to-day operations. 

"You would not know that it's a maintenance facility," he said "It looks much more like a business office complex other than when the trains are stored at night, which people generally don't see."  

Both Natomas sites would be farther away from homes, around a third of a mile for the west side site and three-fifth of a mile on the east side. The existing tracks are on the county side of the levee.

Under the plan, seven commuter trains would end their day at a planned Natomas station. Shuttles would be available to take passengers to the Sacramento International Airport. 

The new line would add stations in Lodi, Elk Grove, Sacramento City College, Midtown Sacramento, and Del Paso Boulevard. It would also connect to an existing line that goes through Stockton and connects Merced and San Jose.

The rail commission and rail authority hope to have the commuter line running within three years.