Salinas staff to finish intermodal center analysis after Harris contract ended; survey shows transit upgrades and amenities are top priorities

Salinas planning staff presented the results of a public outreach survey on the city’s Intermodal Transportation Center and said the next phase of analysis will be completed in-house after the city’s consultant contract concluded at the end of 2024.

Grant Leonard, planning manager, told the Historic Resources Board that Harrison Associates completed an initial existing-conditions analysis but the city’s contract with Harris ended on Dec. 31, 2024, before the firm could finish its originally planned work. Leonard said he and Yesenia Segovia, with the city’s economic development division, will complete the opportunities-and-constraints analysis and report findings to the board and community between now and the end of the year.

The survey summary presented to the board found the ITC is considered a valuable city asset and that residents support increasing use of the site as a transportation hub if service frequency and safety improve. Respondents expressed interest in expanding the welcome center and adding interpretive historic exhibits, better signage and amenities such as restrooms, food vendors, green space and community events. The packet and Leonard’s remarks also note the city is already coordinating some events at the site, including periodic food-truck gatherings branded as What’s Scrubbin’ Salinas.

Board members and members of the public asked staff how the findings will shape next steps. Leonard said forthcoming technical work will include parking counts, pedestrian and bicycle connectivity, traffic circulation, and baseline documentation of service frequencies for Amtrak, Monterey-Salinas Transit (MST) and intercity providers; staff will combine that baseline with community input to identify opportunities to enhance the ITC both as a transportation center and as an economic driver.

Leonard said the city will analyze comparable stations of similar size—examples he cited include Paso Robles, San Luis Obispo, Santa Barbara and stations along the Bay Area and southern California coast—to identify improvements that might be applicable to Salinas. He said housing was included in the survey because the 2015 Downtown Vibrancy Plan had identified the ITC area as a potential transit‑oriented development site; however, Leonard said the survey showed housing scored lower than other options and that will be one item for decision-makers to weigh.

Board members also asked about naming the site. Leonard said the city has an existing naming policy for city-owned facilities; any proposal to rename the site or adopt an official name (for example, the Heritage Park concept discussed publicly) will be evaluated against that policy and reported back in the next staff deliverable, planned no later than the end of the year.

Public commenters urged staff to locate and include records from an earlier stakeholder meeting and master-plan work when preparing the final report. Denise Estrada said a large, well-attended stakeholder meeting had taken place at the Welcome Center and residents want the city to incorporate that prior input rather than redoing work already completed. Leonard acknowledged a transition in staff and consultants and said staff will work with community members to locate prior meeting records.

Leonard and Segovia invited further questions and said staff will return with a fuller report to the board and the public in the coming months.