(The following story by Victor Calderon appeared on The Salinas Californian website on December 18.)
SALINAS, Calif. — Union Pacific Railroad has rejected a proposal to paint a mural on a train bridge north of Oldtown Salinas – but it’s welcomed a scaled-back plan.
Members of Leadership Salinas Valley, a business program working to beautify the trestle, will update the Salinas City Council on its efforts this afternoon at City Hall.
The group had proposed painting a mural on the bridge that would feature an old-fashioned locomotive and its first two boxcars, the first emblazoned with “Union Pacific,” the second with “Welcome to Old Town Salinas.”
The mural was proposed for the north-facing side of the train trestle, which crosses the point downtown where North Main Street splits into Monterey and Salinas streets.
The railroad company, however, rejected the design because it would interfere with visual examinations for stress fractures, Madeleine Clark said Monday. Clark is a public-private partnership consultant and participant in the leadership program.
But Union Pacific did agree to having the trestle painted with a base color and lettering to welcome visitors to town. The company also consented to allowing the support walls of the bridge to have a panorama painting of the Salinas Valley-Central Coast region, Clark said.
“(The bridge) is the front door to Oldtown,” she said.
The lettering and coloring would cost about $30,000, and the abutment additions would cost an additional $120,000, Clark said. Before allowing the painting, though, Union Pacific is requiring that the city of Salinas agree to maintain the artwork.
The trestle is under the jurisdiction of Caltrans and the Union Pacific Railroad. Besides offering an update on the trestle project, members of Leadership Salinas Valley’s train trestle committee will ask the council for direction before it launches a capital campaign to finance the effort. Further, the group will ask the council to pass a resolution of support for the project and agree to maintain it.
The city and the private sector have already invested more than $60 million in redevelopment projects for Oldtown, Clark said, adding that the sign project would serve as a catalyst for further improvements and redevelopment.
Today’s update comes about seven months after the council voted to serve as the lead agency on the trestle-facelift effort.