Construction work to improve the Sonoma-Marin Area Rail Transit tracks in Marin County began this week after the commuter rail authority received myriad environmental permits.
Until now, nearly all of the track improvements for the proposed commuter rail service have taken place in Sonoma County.
The newest construction effort includes a project to enhance a bridge over Novato Creek for improved flood control. Marin County and the city of Novato this week announced a partnership to fund the flood control measures.
"We started up in Marin this week," SMART spokeswoman Carolyn Glendening said. "We got the permits and we're good to go."
The agency obtained nearly 15 federal, state and regional permits to work in wetlands and other sensitive habitats.
The lengthy permit process has contributed to the project's delay. SMART officials, who originally hoped to have trains running between Santa Rosa and San Rafael this year, have now pegged late 2016 as the start date.
A second phase, extending the line north to Cloverdale and south to Larkspur, remains unfunded.
Last year, construction crews replaced the aging Northwestern Pacific Railroad tracks, changed out the wooden railroad ties for new concrete ones and built station platform walls from Guerneville Road in Santa Rosa to Petaluma.
The ongoing work will modernize the line from the Petaluma River to Smith Ranch Road south of Novato. In the fall, the contracting firm Stacy and Witbeck/Herzog will continue working south to the San Rafael Civic Center.
Another contractor, Shimmick Construction, will build the track north from Santa Rosa to Airport Boulevard and the adjacent operations hub, replace the Haystack bridge over the Petaluma River and finish the tracks to downtown San Rafael.
Glendening said track construction should wrap up by the end of the year.
The work through Novato will replace the 200-foot Novato Creek Bridge, a choke point on the waterway that traps debris and floods city streets upstream during heavy rains.
"Branches, mattresses and debris would get caught in the bridge. It's like a sieve," Novato City Manager Michael Frank said. "Since SMART was coming through, we were able to figure out a way to get it done that will definitely benefit our neighborhoods."
The new bridge will be 3 feet higher and will double the spacing between the support posts called bents. This will significantly reduce flooding, officials said.
The city paid $159,000 and the county contributed $91,000 toward the $2.6 million cost of the bridge.
(You can reach Staff Writer Matt Brown at 521-5206 or matt.brown@pressdemocrat.com.)
UPDATED: Please read and follow our commenting policy: