Like many transit agencies, the Sonoma-Marin Area Rail Transit (SMART) commuter rail line in Marin and Sonoma counties has struggled to regain ridership and revenue lost due to the pandemic. But now there’s welcome news from the state that will keep the railroad on track to expand service to the city of Healdsburg.
It’s been a long time since a train arrived at the Healdsburg Depot. The buildings are boarded up and the sign is cracked and faded. But there was a time, before the automobile became king, when rail travel was the way almost everyone got to the northern Sonoma towns.
“The train used to be one of the main ways people visited Healdsburg,” said Mayor David Hagele. “They came to visit the Russian River, there were trains going everywhere. And it’s great to see some of that history and connection to the past coming back.”
Hagele is excited about the announcement last week that the California State Transportation Authority has approved $81 million to extend the SMART train line to Healdsburg. The news comes as the system is expected to start running from Santa Rosa to Windsor sometime in 2025.
“But the biggest part is the connectivity,” says Hagele. “It connects us even closer to Windsor and soon to Cloverdale and that’s an important part of trains, how they’ve been able to connect small communities together.”
Federal funding already exists for reconstruction of the railroad bridge over the Russian River into the city. The state’s $81 million will go toward replacing all the tracks, adding a required automated monitoring system and building a bicycle and pedestrian path along the corridor. If no delays occur, SMART expects the expansion to Healdsburg to be completed sometime in 2028. Melanie Bagby, vice chair of the SMART Board, said this shows the state’s commitment to completing the system.
“Everyone said, ‘You’ll never reach Larkspur.’ SMART has arrived in Larkspur. “Oh, you’ll never reach Windsor.” SMART will open in Windsor next year. And now we have the funding to go to Healdsburg,” Bagby said. “So I think it’s pretty clear that we’re on the path to completing the voters’ vision for SMART.”
But that view has changed over the years. SMART was sold to voters as an environmentally friendly way to get North Bay commuters to San Francisco. But passenger traffic never really took off, especially after work habits changed during the pandemic.
“You know, I think originally in 2008 we had the idea that a lot of people would just go to work and what we’re finding is that the entire community is taking advantage of that,” Bagby said. “It’s not just commuters. It’s also retirees going out to eat, meeting their friends and it’s predominantly school-aged children going to and from school.”
Of course, that could happen because SMART started offering free rides to seniors and children in April. The truth is that the further you get from San Francisco, the more SMART’s mission changes and probably should change. On Saturday, Jeff Saunders and Cheryl Valez drove from Santa Rosa to a picnic overlooking the bridge.
“If it was almost recreational, rather than work-related, then maybe that would be a better, stronger mission for them,” Saunders said. “When the train comes in here and unloads, you have to walk two blocks, walk three blocks to everything. So you could see that it really works here.’
The new proposed Healdsburg station is just a few blocks from downtown’s shops, restaurants and wine tasting rooms.
“I think it would be fun to come to Healdsburg if they keep doing it. I mean, this is THE destination. We come here all the time,” Valez said. “Honestly, I didn’t think it was worth the money it cost and I wouldn’t have voted for it. But since it’s already here, I guess it would be to bring it to Healdsburg… more people would ride it .
So just as the world has changed, SMART must also change. A train that was meant to get people to work quickly becomes a way to ‘get away from it all’.
John Ramos
