Commissioners review Salinas Intermodal Transportation Center study; residents and stakeholders urge more outreach and traffic analysis

Planning commissioners on June 17 reviewed draft existing‑conditions and opportunities memoranda for the Salinas Intermodal Transportation Center (ITC), heard questions about the size and representativeness of outreach, and listened to residents’ safety concerns if Monterey Salinas Transit (MST) were to relocate a transfer center to the site.

Assistant Planner Yesenia Segovi presented the drafts and summarized outreach to date, including an online survey of about 160 respondents, a series of one‑on‑one stakeholder interviews and a May 11 community workshop. The memos, prepared by city staff with earlier work by Harris & Associates, list potential near‑term activation opportunities such as improved restrooms, covered waiting areas, better wayfinding, digital information kiosks and marketing to activate the site as a multimodal hub. Segovi said staff will incorporate public feedback and bring finalized memorandums to the Historic Resources Board on July 6.

The presentation noted current ITC tenants (among them the Railroad Museum, the California Welcome Center, Amtrak and Greyhound), a draft MST design concept for bus loading and pedestrian improvements, and a finding that parking at the ITC is roughly 17% occupied at peak periods. Grant Leonard, a city planning manager, told commissioners MST identified three candidate relocation sites downtown and is studying options; he said MST’s operational needs include space for up to 12 bus bays (the agency’s current site has nine) and a signalized intersection for safe ingress and egress.

Commissioners pressed staff on outreach and traffic analysis. Commissioner Rocco Mora said the roughly 160 online responses seemed small for Salinas and urged broader engagement; Segovi replied that the online survey was only one component and that staff conducted additional stakeholder meetings and in‑person outreach at the farmers market. Commissioner Gutierrez emphasized the potential for added congestion on West Market Street (Highway 183), asked for a larger sample size and suggested exploring traffic‑signal improvements. City staff said they did not do a full traffic study for the memo and noted West Market is a Caltrans‑owned facility with limited local jurisdiction; staff reported preliminary traffic counts in the range of about 18,000–20,000 vehicles per day on that corridor.

Several members of the public spoke. Eloise Sham, who said she serves on the Historic Resources Board but spoke personally, said nearby senior housing would face safety and noise impacts if a larger transfer facility brought more buses and truck traffic, and urged attention to pedestrian safety. Architect and community‑planning advocate Peter Casavan urged the commission to continue the hearing to allow formal community presentations and urged stronger alignment with the downtown vibrancy plan and the general plan, which he said represent longer and broader community engagement. Brian Shields of Carpenters Local 646 supported transit investment and also raised a separate concern about worker classification on public construction projects.

Staff characterized the memos as opportunity documents intended to identify short‑term activation strategies and to document outreach to date, not as project approvals. Staff said MST’s relocation study emerged during the memo process; no city commitment has been made to adopt any particular MST site. The commission did not take formal action on the ITC study session; staff will finalize the memos and present them to the Historic Resources Board on July 6 as the next procedural step.