Rail With Trail Setbacks

Why are there just 8.5 to 10.0 foot setbacks for the proposed Santa Cruz rail-with-trail? That's because the trail designer relied on input from a seasonal tourist train operator. That's very different from passenger rail service meant for the general public. Big mistake. The Federal Railroad Administration (FRA) has stated that an 8.5 foot setback is not appropriate for a rail-with-trail and that setbacks should be much greater for the general public. See attached for examples of minimum setback requirements established by passenger rail operators.

SMART - Sonoma-Marin Area Rail Transit
NCRA - North Coast Railroad Authority
NWP - Northwestern Pacific Railroad
Metrolink (Southern California Regional Rail Authority)
NCTD - North County Transit District
SANDAG - San Diego Association of Governments
RWT - Rail With Trail

SMART train in Sonoma/Marin has California approved setbacks (separating train and trail) of 15 ft for train speeds below 25 mph and 25 ft for speeds up to 50 mph.   When we take these requirements into consideration, the trail can not exist from Santa Cruz Boardwalk to Manresa due to limited width.   More importantly, because there are so many trestles along this section and the fact that the trestles are aligned to the center of the corridor, you can not shift the tracks to accommodate the trail.