On Wednesday, the Sonoma-Marin Area Rail Transit District Board of Directors agreed to fund a second SMART train station in Petaluma, providing public transportation for the northeastern part of the city.
The station will be constructed using the SMART board's $8 million raised from the sale of a downtown SMART property. The station will be located in Petaluma at Corona Road and North McDowell Boulevard.
Petaluma Mayor Teresa Barrett explains that 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. This extends service to people on the north side of our town," Barrett said.
According to Barrett, the funding for the station is part of a deal between a developer and SMART.
“There is a SMART-owned property right next to the downtown train station and that was sold to a developer who is developing a housing development at the site of where the second SMART station is supposed to be," Barrett said. "The developer was going to buy the downtown property where the station was supposed to be and provide the land to SMART for the second station."
The station may cost more than $8 million, and if so, it will be developed when SMART has the funds for it, according to Barrett.
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"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.
