Arlo Guthrie wrote a song, released in 1991, that gave a gritty, yet romantic view of train travel. The “City of New Orleans” captured the rhythm and heartbeat of locomotives and their cargo – human and otherwise – as each of them, a “native son,” connected the country via ribbons of iron and steel rails, wood crossties and spikes laid through sweat and blood.
As railroads traveled west in the early 1800s, population centers gravitated toward them. Commerce and communication between cities depended on ease of travel, facilitated by waterways and then these ribbons of steel supporting iron horses that Guthrie calls “magic carpets made of steam.” Although his ballad speaks of “the disappearing railroad blues” as the City of New Orleans moves through the Mississippi darkness, the effect of its presence is lasting and profound.
Even in the 21st Century, railroads continue to have a major effect on transportation of people and goods. The Greater Tri-City area has a long history with these magic carpets including a stretch of track through Niles Canyon that was an important connection of the first transcontinental railroad. Rail traffic continues to shape our landscape; train tracks crisscross our landscape. While the addition of BART rail has increased the range of rail traffic, the limited dimension of tracks is a major influence on how and where population centers operate.
Relaxation of rules for development in our cities has been designed by state and regional authorities to encourage concentrated living and mass transit. An ideal proposed by some in planning circles is to focus on transportation hubs with the expectation that people will live, work, shop, dine and play in designated districts or use public transportation to travel to other defined locations. Train tracks will lead from one to another. This model depends on a preference for mass living and transportation combined with access to preferred sites. The current pandemic, workplace adjustments and rail proposals may jeopardize these assumptions.
Crowded living conditions are considered an incubator for COVID-19 and many businesses that encouraged such residency near convenient rail hubs are rethinking daily commutes in favor of remote employment. In addition, Capitol Corridor Joint Powers Authority (CCJPA) is contemplating a move to a different rail line (Coastal Line) through the Tri-City area instead of current use of the Niles Subdivision. Hayward, Union City and Niles/Centerville Fremont would be bypassed by passenger traffic in favor of increased freight traffic; the Ardenwood district of Fremont would host a new passenger platform.
With severance of the current route of the Capitol Corridor through these “hub” locations, planning efforts to facilitate rail traffic will be sabotaged and, although some passenger traffic will remain through Centerville via Altamont Corridor Express (ACE), this has been reduced significantly due to employer commute decisions. In place of the convenience of access to train travel, the communities bypassed will, instead, hear and feel the rumble and vibrations of increased freight traffic that can stretch for miles. Intermittent automobile/pedestrian/bicycle traffic stops for these behemoths will increase in intensity and duration.
Is this the utopian result that planners envisioned when promoting transportation hubs and pedestrian/bicycle friendly environments?
Want to know more about the Capitol Corridor South Bay Connect project? An online public scoping meeting ends August 13. Read about this proposal and let CCJPA know your thoughts and opinions. Visit https://southbayconnect.com/