November 29, 2005 > Excerpt from letter dated November 14, 2005 from Jim Pierson, city of Fremont, Interim Transportation and Operations Director to Mr. Howard Goode, Chief Development Officer, San Mateo County Transit District

Staff recently met with the City Manager to discuss the Draft Technical Memorandum 3.0 Alternative Analysis for the DRC project. As a result of this meeting, we are requesting that both rail Alternatives A and B be carried forward in the Environmental Impact Report (EIR) for the DRC project instead of just Alternative B.

The primary difference between Alternative A and Alternative B is Alternative B includes a new connection at Niles Junction that will allow freight trains on the Niles subdivision (on the east side of Niles) to turn east into Niles Canyon. Alternative B, with its new connection at Niles Junction, assumes all freight traffic heading to the east will be rerouted onto the Niles subdivision increasing the daily freight trains on that line from the current seven to twelve. Alternative A assumes freight trains would continue to be routed as they are today, which would result in a greater number of conflicts between freight trains and the increased passenger trains in the Centerville area.

The technical memo states that only Alternative B, the PSR [Project Study Report] alternative, should be carried forward for further environmental study. However, the technical memo, only considered the impact on train delay to judge and compare performance of the various options. Considering the potential impacts of Alternative B on residents who live on the eastside of Niles, we are requesting that both alternatives A and B be carried forward in order to have complete environmental information on both alternatives before selecting the best alternative. We believe the environmental impacts of each alternative such as noise, vibration, air quality and traffic in addition to train delay should be considered in choosing between these two alternatives (A and B).

In addition, we want to remind you of the need to evaluate the parking impact at the Centerville Station. As discussed in previous meetings, and as stated in a letter dated April 11, 2003 from the City of Fremont Assistant City Manager, it was agreed that the parking impacts at the Centerville Station, and an evaluation of a new southbound Niles Junction connection would be included in the DRC's Project Operation Analysis and the EIR. We are requesting again that the parking impact at Centerville Station be included for analysis in the DRC Project EIR.