(The following story by Paul Burgarino appeared on the East County Times website on August 18.)
SAN JOSE, Calif. — When the Kirkebys bought their Oakley home six years ago, they were aware of the rail line behind their house. They also knew the line hadn’t been used by trains in decades.
So it came as a shock when they heard that Union Pacific Railroad intends to again move freight from the Port of Oakland to the Sacramento area using the Mococo rail line, which connects Martinez to Tracy.
“I just couldn’t believe it,” said Heather Kirkeby inside her home on Gold Run Court last week. “It’s very frustrating; there’s going to be the equivalent of an earthquake rumbling my house every hour or so.”
The Mococo rail line was last used for carrying freight cargo through the area in the late 1970s. Since then, housing developments have sprung up along the tracks in rapid-growing East County cities.
The unused railway line sat dormant, retained in case it was ever needed again. The line was used to store empty boxcars.
Union Pacific officials estimate anywhere from five to 40 trains could run daily, depending on business. The likely scenario is about 10 to 15 trains — up to two miles long — will use the tracks each day, Union Pacific spokeswoman Zoe Richmond said, adding the number is still “nebulous.”
Plans are “in their infancy,” Richmond said. Significant track improvements and community outreach must be done before trains start running, she said. Starting up the line will cause significant noise, traffic and safety issues, affecting quality of life for residents and derailing some long-term plans, say city officials in Antioch, Oakley, Brentwood and Tracy.
No clear answers
Thus far, Union Pacific has talked with city officials, but most say the railroad’s answers have been vague. Union Pacific officials have not given specific details on how trains will use the track or what times of day they would run.
“We don’t really know much other than they plan to use the line in the next 18 to 24 months,” said Paul Eldredge, Brentwood’s assistant director of public works.
Last year, Union Pacific executives decided to expand operations to capitalize on a resurgence in overseas companies using rail instead of trucks to ship goods from the Port of Oakland because it is cheaper given rising fuel prices.
The preferred rail routes from Oakland to Roseville have too many commuter trains because of the Amtrak Capitol Corridor line to the north and Altamont Commuter Express trains to the south and west. Federal regulations say only a certain number of trains can run at one time and the railroad could not swap out commuter trains to run freight, Richmond said.
“It’s unfortunate to the people who live around the (Mococo) line, but it’s a business decision that had to be made,” she said.
Union Pacific is taking inventory of the rail line, mostly where it “interacts with the public at crossings,” Richmond said during a tour of the rail line last week. Trestle bridges, track and old power lines must also be fixed.
Leaders in Brentwood, Antioch and Oakley are worried about effects on traffic, public safety and noise from train whistles and rumbling freight cars. East County officials plan to form a united front for mitigation efforts and in communicating with Union Pacific.
“There is really nothing positive about this at all,” said Antioch City Manager Jim Jakel.
Effect on communities
The trains will likely travel 25 to 65 miles per hour, depending on track and neighborhood conditions, Richmond said.
The Mococo line crosses several major streets in each city. In Brentwood, the track runs on the edge of subdivisions that weren’t a glint in a developer’s eye when trains stopped running.
“It doesn’t bisect the city completely in the middle, but it’s pretty close,” Eldredge said.
Brentwood residents Lorenzo and Michelle Zesati said their developer told them that it would be 10 to 15 years before any trains ran on the tracks that lie about 100 feet from their door.
But the couple, who bought their two-story house in the Rose Garden subdivision almost two years ago, admit they took the developer’s word for it, and didn’t consult their disclosure papers.
News that the rail could open sooner frustrates them. For Lorenzo Zesati, it brings fears that the trains could increase crime locally, as it did in the Los Angeles neighborhood where he grew up.
“Oh, I hate it,” Michelle Zesati said.
People will “be fuming over the issue,” Antioch Mayor Donald Freitas said, particularly over the incessant train noise from both the Mococo and Burlington Northern Santa Fe lines. Train whistles range from 85 to 100 decibels, roughly as loud as a jackhammer.
“It will exacerbate a nuisance that a lot of people want to see stopped entirely,” he said.
Solutions for noise and traffic include building overpasses or installing quiet zones, where horns at intersections warn of oncoming trains. Both would cost millions of dollars and take years to implement.
Leaders are frustrated Union Pacific doesn’t have to study environmental impacts, given how the area has changed. It’s an existing line so a study isn’t necessary, Richmond said.
“Even though they aren’t obligated, it doesn’t mean they shouldn’t do the right thing. They’re going to make a lot of money, they should address community issues,” Oakley City Manager Bryan Montgomery said.
Oakley leaders have concerns about safety in rural areas where children can walk along the tracks. Adding fences around the Burlington Northern Santa Fe line downtown reduced the number of accidents on the line, but the Mococo line has no fencing, Montgomery said.
The effects for Pittsburg will be less than other East County cities. The track crosses only at Loveridge Road. The other major roads have overpasses. Trains will still rumble through older city neighborhoods in Pittsburg and Bay Point.
Martinez shouldn’t see much of an effect because the Mococo line runs near industrial land where there is “little, if any” development, Mayor Rob Schroder said.