Our community has miserable transit service, though it is commendable that SacRT is trying to do a better job. Per the email announcement (below), next week SacRT will begin working on a project to remodel the Watt Avenue Light Rail station, a project that is expected to take around a year and a half to finish. Why are they doing this? It's because the public's opinions about the station and its environment are that things there are generally ugly, unsafe and poorly maintained, as disclosed in a report back in 2018. The improvements are intended to provide a safer, more pleasant and more easily accessible station, with a goal of increased ridership.

The project is complicated by the location of the station in an island between the eastbound and westbound lanes of Interstate 80. It is not easy for pedestrians to get there from surrounding area and then trek to the middle of the Watt Avenue freeway overcrossing - particularly when the elevator doesn't work. Challenges like that mean the project is complicated and expensive. Given the timing of the data analysis and design concepts - all prior to the the pandemic and the rise of homelessness (Science Center on Auburn Blvd., Steiny Homes, County Safe Stay) in the immediate area - we're not sure how much of a difference the changes will bring about. Still, we're rooting for SacRT to have a succesful project. Among other things, it could mean the pavement on Watt in that immediate vicinity will be re-done. That would be good, since the pavement there is some of Watt Avenue's worst.