Project adds EV charging and extends Roundhouse Row
Roseville, Calif. (Rocklin Online) —A parking improvement project with an investment of $3.9 million is planned for Historic Old Town, which will provide 128 additional parking spaces, electric vehicle chargers, improved landscaping, and pedestrian access from Lincoln Street to the Union Pacific Railroad yard. Construction is to start in summer 2026 and finish by spring 2027.
The Historic Old Town Parking Improvement Project is to be constructed on the former Union Pacific Railroad property which is situated between the existing public Lot on the 400 block of Lincoln Street and the rail yard. The city purchased this land from Union Pacific in January 2025, which created conditions for implementation of a project connected to one of the long-time goals of Roseville, namely, to improve parking and pedestrian access and develop redevelopment possibilities in one of the city’s historic commercial districts.
What the project includes
According to the plans, there are to be 128 parking spaces, out of which five spaces will be accessible. Among these, there will be 12 parking spaces providing access to electric vehicle charging through six chargers.
Moreover, the project will provide an extension of Roundhouse Row, thus connecting the Lincoln Street with the new parking lot. This will serve the purpose of creating the possibility of walking between the parking lot, nearby businesses and houses in Historic Old Town. Lighting and landscaping are to be provided throughout the new parking area and the path of Roundhouse Row extension.
Although parking is the primary aim, Roundhouse Row extension is important due to the fact that it will make it possible to connect the parcel adjacent to the railroad to the existing Old Town street grid, which means that the project will have two aims: provision of public parking and better walking connection between the rail-yard border and the Lincoln Street.
Construction to last until spring 2027
Construction is scheduled from summer 2026 until spring 2027; however, the city notes that the schedule might change. Normal construction hours will be 7 a.m. to 5 p.m., Monday through Friday. Historical Old Town residents, businesses, and visitors will be able to experience temporary construction activity in the vicinity of the 400 block of Lincoln Street. Meanwhile, the existing businesses and historic structures will stay adjacent to the project area.
After its completion, the provision of additional parking will be especially useful during community events and busy times in Old Town when, due to the historic structures and old street plan, provision of large new parking facilities is not possible within the established blocks.
The $3.9 million project is not going to use General Fund resources
It is estimated at about $3.9 million. According to the information provided by the City of Roseville, the project is to be financed from the local Strategic Improvement Fund and not the General Fund; it means that ordinary municipal operations fundings will not finance this parking project. Such a financing means that the project is included in the capital improvement and redevelopment strategy of the city.
Parking on railroad property has been planned for many years
Although construction is scheduled for 2026 and 2027, the idea of providing parking on railroad property adjacent to Historic Old Town dates back even further. Roseville adopted its Downtown Specific Plan in April 2009, which covers about 176 acres, including Historic Old Town, Vernon Street district, Royer and Saugstad parks. Planning documents always mentioned plans for additional residential, commercial, and mixed-use development downtown. One particular section of the plan mentioned a 2.41-acre Union Pacific property adjacent to Historic Old Town, suggesting it as the place where there can be additional commercial development and an at-grade parking lot for Old Town. At that time, the city had considered the possibility of leasing the property from Union Pacific in order to increase parking without immediate construction of a bigger building.
More than 15 years later, the city owns the former Union Pacific property in the same Old Town rail yard area and is preparing for construction of the new surface parking lot. Thus, the project becomes the next step in implementation of the planning ideas, which have been guiding Roseville’s downtown redevelopment for a long time.
Old Town has grown up with the railroad
The connection between Historic Old Town and the railroad dates back to the very first days of the city. The community has been developing around the railroad junction that would become Roseville, and expansion of the railroad has been developing rapidly in the beginning of the 1900s after Southern Pacific decided to move its operations to Roseville. In 1906, Southern Pacific started moving its operations from Rocklin to Roseville—the roundhouse, workers, and machinery—during more than two years, and the process finished in April 1908. The construction of railroad facilities led to the rapid residential and commercial development, especially around Lincoln, Main, Church, and Pacific streets; and Roseville officially became a city in April 1909. This development contributed to the establishment of Historic Old Town as one of the city’s oldest commercial districts.
The railroad has been playing an important role in the city economy in the 20th century. After Union Pacific and Southern Pacific merged in 1996, Union Pacific conducted the major reconstruction of the Roseville rail facility, removing more than 120 railroad buildings, constructing new facilities and bridges, and reconstructing about 50 miles of tracks. The new Roseville yard has been dedicated in 1999. The active rail yard has become the border of Historic Old Town.
The project as a part of Old Town’s redevelopment program
As Roseville has developed after World War II, the commercial development has shifted away from the original downtown to the newer shopping and transportation centers. This development trend has led to decades-long attempts of preservation and reinvestment in the city’s historic commercial districts. Roseville’s Downtown Specific Plan serves as the frame for encouraging mixed-used housing, retail, restaurants, entertainment, and redevelopment, while improving public spaces, circulation, and parking. Old Town has been considered as the main district of the downtown plan. Provision of parking has been playing an important role in the strategy; it enables more dining, entertainment, housing, and business activity in the district whose street plan has been established more than a century ago. The new surface lot provides such possibility without necessity of a multi-story garage.
Connecting Old Town’s past with future development
Thus, the location of the project is connected to the unique history of the city and its railroad development. The railroad, which has helped to create the city, has been located adjacent to Historic Old Town, being a historical border of this district. Roseville’s acquisition of the former Union Pacific property in 2025 gives the city the opportunity to use this border for the benefit of the citizens. Once the project will be completed, there will be 128 additional spaces for drivers and a Roundhouse Row connection from the Lincoln Street to the nearby businesses. If the schedule will hold, the Historic Old Town Parking Improvement Project will be completed by spring 2027.
