Lodi aims for seat at commuter rail table

As plans for a commuter rail service through the Central Valley take shape, city officials want to make sure the train stops in Lodi. In order to do that, they say Lodi needs a seat at the decision-making table.

The San Joaquin Regional Rail Commission is exploring a commuter rail line from Merced to Sacramento. The line would take one of two Union Pacific tracks: Through Downtown Lodi, or five miles west of the city.

City officials say that a commuter rail stop in Downtown would revitalize the Sacramento Street rail corridor, while a western depot would encourage unwanted sprawl toward Flag City.

Mayor Bob Johnson has petitioned the San Joaquin Council of Governments, which controls the rail commission, to get a Lodi representative on the commission. The council's Executive Committee meets Friday to consider Lodi's request.

Johnson, a New Yorker who grew up riding public transport, said it is important that Lodi have a voice in the process.

"I think everyone should have an opportunity to participate in this exciting process," he said. "Without sounding too provincial, it's an opportunity for us to put in a new transportation medium that we don't have now."

(Jennifer M. Howell/News-Sentinel)

SJCOG's executive committee, which appoints commissioners to the rail commission, deliberated on giving Lodi a place on the commission in April. Without taking action, the board did not respond in Lodi's favor.

The committee said there were no plans to expand the eight-member rail commission, and they worried that commissioners with specific agendas wouldn't represent the best interests of the region. SJCOG Chairman Victor Mow said it is important for the commissioners to think regionally.

"As a regional board, we would like to think we take off our city hat and go to the meetings with a regional perspective," said Mow, who is also a county supervisor.

Johnson said he would act in the region's best interest if appointed to the commission.

"Why do they think we can't think regionally?" he said. "Of course we would think regionally."

Mow said he is looking forward to hearing Lodi's motives for wanting to be on the commission.

"I don't fault them for wanting to be involved," he said. "But is the rail commission failing Lodi that they feel they need to be a member?"

The Executive Committee makes recommendations to the full SJCOG board. Friday's meeting is a follow-up to the committee's discussion in April. The committee could recommend adding Lodi to the rail commission, SJCOG Executive Director Andrew Chesley said, adding that it would involve changing the board's joint powers agreement.

Rail commissioners, who are also cityand county-elected officials, are appointed to four-year terms, Chesley said, and they are replaced if they are not re-elected. Commissioners are appointed based on how well they would represent the region's transportation interests, Chesley said.

"There is value in having representatives on the commission who recognize the big-picture issues in putting rail into place," he said.

In the past, Lodi has been represented on the commission by former councilman Phil Pennino and former county supervisor Jack Sieglock.

The rail commission is favoring the route to the west of Lodi for its Central Valley commuter service, according to a SJRRC study released in July. Similar to SJCOG's Altamont Commuter Express, which links Stockton with the Bay Area, the service would operate four to six trains in each direction each day.

The Union Pacific tracks through Lodi are near capacity with 34 freight trains and four Amtrak trains each day, while the western line has 16 freight trains each day, the study said. Moving the freight trains to the western line would involve complicated switching procedures.

If a commuter rail line stopped in Downtown Lodi, condominiums, lofts and mixed-use developments would spring up in Downtown, City Manager Blair King envisioned. People would be able to live in Downtown, walk to the train station and commute to work in Sacramento.

"It would lead to a more compact urban form," he said.

However, if the train uses the western line, King said, there probably will be a new Lodi station near Flag City, which would lead to residential growth in the surrounding agricultural land. If that happens, King said, people will wonder why the city allowed such unruly sprawl.

"In 20 years, people will look back and say: 'How did this happen?' It happened because the train did not come through Downtown Lodi," King said. "The results of these decisions may not be manifested for 15-20 years, but the conception is being made now."

Contact reporter Matt Brown at mattb@lodinews.com.