Stay On Track: The Latest Rail News

Learn about rail grade separation discussions underway, meetings set & next steps

Published in

PaloAltoConnect

5 min readMay 15, 2024

The City is holding community conversations around solutions to the increased traffic as Caltrain electrifies and more trains run through the Palo Alto corridor, and what we can do to keep everyone moving and safe. These discussions are helping inform the City’s “Connecting Palo Alto” process, which includes staff actively studying alternatives for grade separation — making roads crossing the railroad lines pass over or under the tracks — to improve traffic circulation and increase public safety.

There are seven streets where people and vehicles can cross the railroad tracks in Palo Alto. While three of these intersections — also known as grade crossings — are above the road and already grade separated, there are four remaining that cross the tracks at the same level, posing traffic and safety issues. City is pursuing grade separation on three existing at-grade crossings namely Churchill Avenue, Meadow Drive, and Charleston Road.

Upcoming discussions are planned to make decisions about these three at-grade crossings. Over the next month, the Rail Committee and Council will continue their review and possibly consider selecting the preferred alternative(s) for advancing the project into the Preliminary Engineering and Environmental Phase.

Conversations underway are to consider and select preferred Alternatives for Meadow Drive, and Charleston Road. The selection of preferred Alternatives at these locations will help advance the next phase of work. The City Council has previously selected Partial Underpass as it’s preferred Alternative at Churchill Avenue.

The community is invited to participate in upcoming meetings, where they can learn more, share valuable input and follow along as Council discusses and potentially approves narrowing alternatives in June.

Recent Discussions by the Rail Committee & the Council Council

Rail Committee Review and Direction of Alternatives

Link to Rail Committee Meetings & Agendas

Over the past two years, in response to Council direction, the Rail Committee has provided a significant review and provided direction to staff for the development of conceptual design of Alternatives at Churchill Avenue, Meadow Drive, and Charleston Road Crossings: Refinements to underpass and partial underpass alternatives. Project studies, such as preliminary geotechnical analysis, traffic studies, pedestrian and bicycle circulation, noise and vibration analysis, sea level rise assessment, storm runoff analysis, heat island effect, shadow analysis, etc. Caltrain Four Tracking segments. Updated Council adopted evaluation criteria. Caltrain technical review comments and proposed solutions.

Rail Committee Recommendations to the City Council (April 16, 2024)

Link to Rail Committee Meeting and Agenda
Watch the Rail Committee meeting on YouTube (Rail Committee Meeting April 2024)

The Rail Committee at its April 16 meeting recommended the following for advancing grade separation alternatives into the Preliminary Engineering and Environmental Documentation Phase:

Churchill Avenue crossing: Confirmed Partial Underpass Alternative as the Preferred Alternative. Recommended Seale Avenue as preferred location for bicycle and pedestrian crossing under this partial underpass alternative.

Meadow Drive and Charleston Road crossings: Recommended the Underpass Alternative and Hybrid Alternative at Meadow Drive and Charleston Road. The Committee also recommended considering the following elements for Underpass Alternatives at all crossings during the Preliminary Engineering phase:

Seek ways to reduce property impacts.
Optimize bike/pedestrian crossings.
Where feasible, improve connections to bike infrastructure beyond the study area to improve the network.
Improve connection to Park Boulevard.
Explore modifications/refinements to the Bike Boulevard, along Park Boulevard, to improve the overall bike network.
Further refine the traffic circle on Charleston Road to reduce the property impacts.
Refine construction impacts to better understand possible mutations needed during the lengthy construction process.

City Council Study Session (April 29, 2024)

Link to City Council Meeting and Agenda
Watch the City Council Study Session on YouTube (Council Study Session April 2024)

The City Council discussed the grade separation alternatives, plus various impacts to properties.

Join the Conversation at Upcoming Meetings

Two meetings coming up will provide opportunities for the community to share input.

Rail Committee, May 23, 2024, 2:30 p.m., City Hall Community Room

The Rail Committee will review the Agreement between the City and the Federal Railroad Administration for funding assistance to perform Preliminary Engineering and Environmental Documentation Phase. In addition, the Committee will review updated materials on the Conceptual Plans for Churchill Avenue, Meadow Drive, and Charleston Road crossings. Find Rail Committee meeting materials.

City Council Meeting, June 10, 2024, 5:30 p.m., City Hall Council Chambers

Based on Rail Committee recommendations, the Council will discuss the Bicycle and Pedestrian crossing location at Kellogg Avenue versus Seale Avenue for the Partial Underpass Alternative at Churchill Avenue Crossing. In addition, the Council will potentially select the Preferred Alternative(s) at Meadow Drive and Charleston Road for advancing grade separation alternatives into the Preliminary Engineering and Environmental Documentation Phase. Find Council meeting agendas and materials.

Share Feedback

Submit an online form here.
Email the City Council at City.Council@cityofpaloalto.org.
Gain information on how to participate in hybrid meetings.

POTENTIAL PROPERTY IMPACTS

There are potential property impacts as a result of the various alternatives under consideration. Conceptual information, presented at the April 29 Council meeting will be refined in future phases as Council narrows the preferred alternatives.

Noted as part of the Council Presentation from April 29, 2024, the parcels highlighted in yellow for each potential alternative could be subject to some form of tentative partial property acquisition, to accommodate the underpass infrastructure. Parcels highlighted in red could be subject to a tentative full property acquisition to accommodate the partial underpass alternative at Churchill Avenue or the underpass alternative at Meadow Drive and Charleston Road crossings.

A summary of possible property impacts presented included:

Churchill Avenue Partial Underpass Alternative: Properties noted in the map at the link above could be impacted by changes such as driveway modifications, removal/relocation of planter strips loss of street parking and removal of trees.

Seale Avenue: The Churchill Partial Underpass alternative would possibly require widening of Seale Avenue to accommodate a pedestrian/bicycle ramp in the center of the street. This would result in the removal of some trees and street parking.

Meadow Drive Partial Underpass Alternative: This alternative could involve two (2) full property acquisitions, twelve (12) partial acquisitions and removal of trees in some locations.

Charleston Road Partial Underpass Alternative: This alternative would involve three (3) full property acquisitions, thirty (30) partial acquisitions and potential removal of trees at some locations.

Read more about these and other potential impacts here.

WHAT’S NEXT?

After the Council considers selecting Preferred Alternatives to advance into the Preliminary Engineering and Environmental Phase, staff will work on finalizing and executing funding agreements, and VTA, Caltrain, and the City of Palo Alto collaboration will be solidified through a cooperative agreement.

Preliminary Engineering and Environmental documentation steps include refining conceptual plans to a 15% level of design. These design documents will provide greater details and support further refinement of plans to minimize property impacts and optimize improvements while ensuring compliance with regulatory requirements. Following this work, the project will involve development of plans at 35% design and conducting environmental studies required for environmental clearance.