Healdsburg decides future SMART station location

As the Sonoma-Marin Area Rail Transit’s Windsor to Healdsburg extension gains momentum, the Healdsburg City Council has decided the location for its future rail station.

Council members opted for the Hudson Street location, the site long-considered for the station and the former train depot, at the Tuesday night meeting.

This comes as the regional transportation district continues to expand passenger rail service north to Cloverdale. In July, SMART received funding to finish the extension to Windsor, and as of September, 65% of the $160.5 million Windsor-Healdsburg extension had been financed.

This was part of a discussion item and no vote was cast. Staff requested that council direct staff to either proceed with the Hudson Street location — previously referred to as the Harmon Street site — or provide more information on the alternative site.

“Community feedback indicates a strong preference for the current planned location on Hudson, there is not clear motivation for relocating the station based on currently available information and analysis,” according to a staff report.

The Hudson Street location on the south side of the city already has 48 parking spaces in anticipation for what has been designated a multimodal transportation hub since 1997.

“At Hudson Street we have some space to accommodate a station and all the new activity that it will bring,” Council member Chris Herrod said.

Though Vice Mayor Evelyn Mitchell also signaled support for an alternative site, “to me it just feels like the future is (Hudson Street) and it feels more appropriate at this point in time.”

Previously, two sites close to downtown were also being considered.

One site that was still up for consideration Tuesday evening is located on Vine Street, near the West Plaza parking lot. However, staff did not have adequate information to recommend that location, according to the Tuesday presentation.

One site at Grove Street across from the Healdsburg City Hall parking lot was no longer being considered. It would have resulted in “negative impacts to adjacent properties and be located farther from available parking and the center of the downtown area,” according to a staff report.

SMART currently operates 12 stations in the North Bay from Larkspur to the Charles M. Schulz-Sonoma County Airport. A 12-member board governs the regional transportation district for the passenger train service and corridor maintenance from Larkspur to Cloverdale.

You can reach Staff Writer Jennifer Sawhney at 707-521-5346 or jennifer.sawhney@pressdemocrat.com. On X (Twitter) @sawhney_media.