Regarding the recent article on the $10.8 million for flood control and the story on how the project will remake Third Street, I was wondering: $40 million will pay to move Wine Train tracks. Are there any cost-benefit analysis applied to spending $40 million on train tracks that no longer serve as transportation for commodities or passengers?

Barry Martin, city spokesman and man with an eye on the flood project’s progress, said a cost-benefit analysis was done on whether the Wine Train tracks should be moved. It was part of the study done before any of the work got started.

Martin pointed out that although the Napa Valley Wine Train is the only user of the portion of track that will be relocated, that doesn’t mean it will always be so. Many people think commuter rail should be a part of the county’s transportation future, just as it was more than 100 years  ago when Samuel Brannan ran the line Upvalley.

In 1998, the Napa County Transportation and Planning Agency paid a consultant to study the rail corridor and the feasibility of increasing rail operations. The study determined that in the long term it makes sense to have “enhanced rail capacity,” said Jim Leddy, NCTPA executive director.

Julie Lucido, principal engineer with the Napa County flood control district, pointed out: “We’re not moving the track for the benefit of the Wine Train.”

The tracks are moving at two locations

At one site, between First and Third streets just east of Soscol, the tracks need to be raised because the bridge over the Napa River there needs to be raised. As things stand, the old wooden trestle — where you might sometimes see a fisherman dropping a line into the water —  interferes with the design of the flood project and impedes flows when the river is running high.

Plus, Martin points out, it’s almost impossible to put train tracks back in once they’ve come out. In addition to the cost of the rails and related infrastructure, acquiring the needed land adds up to big money. Then there’s the feat of appealing to locals who would justifiably be reluctant to having trains rumble past their properties.

The second set of tracks set to move are on the east side of Soscol, opposite Cinedome and near the Wine Train station. They are being raised to build the Napa River bypass channel.

When floodwaters rise, water will cut through the channel and avoid clogging the Oxbow, traditionally an area that is quick to flood. The channel will start at the northern end of the Oxbow, near where the Westin Verasa is now going up, and will come out next to Downtown Joe’s, across what once was China Point.

This is still a few steps down the line in the flood project.

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