The General Manager’s report at the SacRT Board meeting this week included a solution to one of the locations where light rail trains were being blocked by illegal parking, in this case, for the southbound Gold Line on 7th Street between J Street and Merchant Street (alley). Two of the five parking spaces were removed, and cross-hatch paint was placed to signify the closed space. The issue is that cars were parking too close to the light rail tracks, so that trains could not safely pass. From the report, the photo below shows the change. It remains to be seen whether this will completely solve the problem, as there are three parking spots remaining.

The second location where trains are being blocked, probably even more frequently, is on 8th Street northbound between J Street and Improv Alley (which is not signed as such). Two photos below show the situation.

When observed yesterday, there was illegal parking, but it was not blocking the light rail tracks. However, Dan has observed, and many people have reported to STAR, instances of trains being blocked by illegally parked cars. We don’t have photos of these blockages, but we do know that they occur with disturbing frequency. (If you have a photo of blockages, we would very much like a copy!)

The second photo shows a vehicle parked at a red curb, in violation of the law (CA 7SOU810, black Ford Mustang, in case you are interested). Two vehicles were parked in a white curb ‘passenger loading zone’. During 30 minutes of observation, the red curb vehicle remained parked, and the two vehicles remained on the white curb, not loading passengers. This kind of parking behavior in not unusual in Sacramento. Most parking enforcement is directed towards parking longer than paid time, not to illegally parked cars. The ‘passenger loading zone’ here is nonsensical anyway. What passengers would be loaded here? There are no residences. If there were to be any parking here at all, it would be green curb limited time parking, usually 10 minutes, for the two businesses. By the way, there is a mythology among drivers that parking ‘just for a moment’ is not illegal. It is illegal. If you get out of your car, you are parking, whether it is for one second or an indefinite period of time.

Both 7th Street and 8th Street are overly wide, three motor vehicle travel lanes minimum, with additional turn lanes approaching some intersections. The ADT (average daily traffic) count does not justify three travel lanes. STAR believes that both of these streets should be narrowed to two lanes, and a dedicated lane provided for light rail. Where conflict occurs, hard curbs should be placed to keep motor vehicles out of the light rail area. 8th Street northbound between J Street and Improv Alley is clearly a location that needs hard curbs.

Light Rail Slowdowns

The locations above are the only two that STAR is aware of where light rail trains are blocked by illegal parking. If you know of others, please let us know. But there are a number of places where light rail trains are slowed by being mixed in with motor vehicle traffic. The most prominent example, again, to our knowledge, is the southbound tracks on 12th Street. Light rail trains regularly have to wait on motor vehicles in front of them, particularly the vehicles turning left onto J Street from 12th Street.

STAR believes that each location where light rail trains are slowed by sharing space with motor vehicles should be analyzed to determine effective solutions. We believe that no new shared lanes should be created anywhere, and that many existing shared lanes should be converted to exclusive light rail use. A train full of passengers is far, far more important that a private motor vehicle with one person.

• SacRT light rail