The City of Sacramento is continuing a master plan process for Sacramento Valley Station (the Amtrak station) and the railyards, as previously posted. Both conceptual options presented are for an elevated concourse that goes over the tracks, connecting the historical passenger station with the historical shops area, and providing access to the platforms. I know that this is part of the eventual solution when high speed rail comes to the station, but that is many years away, and I think that looking at an elevated concourse for solving existing issues will put solutions off for years.

There needs to be easy and obvious pedestrian and bicyclist access to the train platforms soon, within a year or two, but by working on the long term design, it may be that these solutions are put off into the future. Access needs to be from multiple access points in multiple directions. Currently pedestrian access is awkward, and bicyclist access is both awkward and hazardous.

An outside-the-box action that could be taken within two years is to provide platform level access for pedestrians and bicyclists. How? By correcting the design mistake in track layout that placed freight bypass tracks on both sides of the passenger platforms, foreclosing the possibility of across-platform access. This can be fixed by moving the freight bypass track on the south to,the north side, adjacent to the north bypass track. Across-platform access would then be available to pedestrians and bicyclists using the F Street access point, as well as from the west. Of course across-platform only works for the southmost track (6) and the next track (5) when there is not a train on 6. Access to the other two passenger tracks would require using the subway concourse. All the passenger trains using the station can open doors on both sides, so that boarding and de-boarding can take place on either side. I have seen and used this option several times when both tracks at smaller stations (shorter platforms) are occupied and passengers must walk through one train to board or de-board the other.

This might seem like a small issue, and an expensive solution, moving an existing track, but the options it opens up are many, including platform level access between light rail and passenger rail.

• Sacramento Valley Station