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FAQs

This Frequently Asked Questions page is continuously updated. *Last updated October 2022*

About Connecting Palo Alto

Connecting Palo Alto (formerly the Palo Alto Rail Program) is a community-based process to address long-standing challenges associated with at-grade crossings in Palo Alto along the Caltrain corridor. This process will inform decisions affecting both community aesthetics and mobility choices for many future generations. Community feedback and collaboration will be a vital part of the decision-making process.

Engagement activities that inform, educate, gather input from, and connect citizens about potential rail design alternatives will help prepare the City for the transit landscape of the future.

Virtual Town Hall Q+A Sessions

Virtual Town Hall Q & A Sessions:

  1. Thursday, August 27, 2020 at 4:00 pm (for Churchill Ave grade separation alternatives)
  2. Thursday, September 3, 2020 at 4:00 pm (for Meadow-Charleston grade separation alternatives)

Questions & comments submitted within the Virtual Town Hall were addressed during these sessions. The Virtual Town Hall itself ran August 19 through September 14, 2020.

Links:

Virtual Town Hall Q+A - Continued

Virtual Town Hall – These are additional Questions + Answers.

Definitions

An at-grade crossing is an intersection of railroad tracks with roads and pedestrian/bicycle at the same street level. Vehicles and pedestrians are forced to stop at the crossing while a train travels through the intersection. At-grade crossings or train crossings have a significant risk of collisions between trains and any other road user (i.e., trucks, cars, bikes and pedestrians).

A grade separation is shifting/separating the grade of the train from the grade of the road. It allows for the safe movement of vehicles, bicyclists and pedestrians under or over railroad tracks. Generally, these separations come in the form of either an underpass or an overpass structure (bridge). Grade separations eliminate the risks of collisions with trains, which enhances safety and boosts mobility.

An embankment is a mound of earth that is built to support a roadway or railroad over an area above the existing ground/terrain. The sides of the embankment can be sloped or they can be vertical if used in conjunction with retaining walls. The construction of an embankment allows for a change in elevation of the  roadway or railroad, which is typically used in the approach to a grade separation.

Caltrain Electrification will electrify the Caltrain corridor from San Francisco to San Jose.

Approximately 75% of Caltrain’s diesel service will be replaced with electric service resulting in cleaner, greener, and better service to the Caltrain community and the communities along the corridor. To have more of your questions answered, visit the Caltrain Electrification FAQ at http://calmod.org/wp- content/uploads/CalMod_FAQ_1.2018.pdf.

Grade Separation Questions

Since 2017, 34 options have been considered. The City has undertaken an extensive citywide engagement effort to establish a broad awareness of the need and issues associated with constructing rail grade separations along the Caltrain corridor. This has generated roughly 34 discrete ideas for grade separations. The 34 options for grade separations are a result of that process. The list has been narrowed down to 8 options as of May 2019. For more on the alternatives, go here.

At the April 22, 2019 meeting, City Council moved the date for a decision on a preferred alternative from April 2019 to October 2019. The Council has narrowed the 34 options to 8. Council continues to thoroughly evaluate the 8 remaining alternatives. XCAP is providing feedback in this process and the remaining alternatives.

In September 2017, the City Council adopted the following criteria as guidelines in selecting a preferred solution (a preferred alternative for each crossing): East-West connectivity – facilitate movement across the corridor for all modes of transportation; traffic congestion – reduce delay and congestion for automobile traffic at rail crossings; pedestrian / bicycle circulation – provide clear and safe routes for pedestrians and bicyclists seeking to cross the rail corridor, separate from automobile traffic; rail operations – support continued rail operations and Caltrain service improvements; and, cost – finance the project with feasible funding sources. Additionally, the following criteria are also important: environmental impacts – reduce rail noise and vibration along the corridor; visual impacts – minimize visual changes along the rail corridor; local access – maintain or improve access to neighborhoods, parks, schools and other destinations along the corridor while reducing regional traffic on neighborhood streets; cost – minimize right- of-way acquisition; construction – minimize disruption and the duration of construction.

The Comprehensive Plan states the following:

Palo Alto will build and maintain a sustainable network of safe, accessible and efficient transportation and parking solutions for all users and modes, while protecting and enhancing the quality of life in Palo Alto. Programs will include alternative and innovative transportation processes, and the adverse impacts of automobile traffic on the environment in general and residential streets in particular will be reduced. Streets will be safe, attractive and designed to enhance the quality and aesthetics of Palo Alto neighborhoods. Palo Alto recognizes the regional nature of its transportation system, and will be a leader in seeking regional transportation solutions, prioritizing Caltrain service improvements and railroad grade separations.

Beginning in 2009, the Palo Alto rail corridor has been a subject of considerable discussion and community focus in response to planned rail investments along the Caltrain rail corridor, specifically the California High Speed Rail project and the Caltrain Electrification Project. The 2013 Palo Alto Rail Corridor Study, 2014 Palo Alto Grade Separation and Trenching Study, and the 2030 Comprehensive Plan are the three essential planning studies that inform the present Rail Program planning effort, Connecting Palo Alto. The 2013 Palo Alto Rail Corridor Study, begun in November 2010 and adopted by City Council in January 2013, was initiated in response to California High Speed Rail and the Caltrain Electrification Project. The report focused on the rail corridor itself, circulation and connectivity, land use and urban design, and public facilities within a defined boundary on either side of the rail corridor traversing the entire city. A 17-member task force provided ongoing input and recommendations for consideration by City Council. The 2014 Palo Alto Grade Separation and Trenching Study was a conceptual engineering effort that provided preliminary information on the potential impacts and cost of construction for a range of roadway and railway submersion alternatives. The findings in the Palo Alto Grade Separation and Trenching Study were based on conceptual engineering documents prepared for community discussion. The engineering on both the trench and tunnel have since been updated with more existing conditions factored into the study. The alternatives page has the most recent trench and tunnel engineering info. When the 2030 Comprehensive Plan was adopted in November 2017, the following policy language was included: “Pursue grade separation of rail crossings along the rail corridor as a City priority” (Policy T-3.15). Additional policies and programs emphasize the desire to maintain access for automobiles, bicyclists, and pedestrians, address near-term safety and accessibility improvements, and call on the City to “Undertake studies and outreach necessary to advance grade separation of Caltrain to become a “shovel ready” project and strongly advocate for adequate State, regional and federal funding for design and construction of railroad grade separations” (Program T3.15.1).

The City’s goal is to minimize the need for property acquisition, per the City Council adopted criteria. The environmental and preliminary engineering phases of the project will identify any impacts and mitigation measures, including the need for any right-of-way to construct the project.

There are currently a number of uncertainties regarding the timing and configuration of High Speed Rail implementation. The current High Speed Rail business plan has the initial phase only extending as far north as San Jose, with future plans to extend north along the Peninsula. The project is coordinating with High Speed Rail. The grade separation alternatives include the flexibility to allow for the addition of High-Speed Rail without significantly affecting the proposed improvements.

Ideas Under Consideration and Eliminated

Click here: Renderings, Plans, and Animations to view alternatives still under consideration and eliminated alternatives.

Impacts to the creek are severe for the trench idea and the City is in contact with Santa Clara Valley Water District to determine if there are any possible mitigations. Lowering or covering of the creeks would require regulatory approval from numerous agencies, such as California State Department of Fish and wildlife, San Francisco Bay Regional Water Quality Control Board and the US Army Corps of Engineers.

The City of Palo Alto is evaluating a range of options for improving the existing rail/street crossing at Palo Alto Avenue. Based on the analysis completed to date, it has become increasingly clear that factors, such as engineering constraints, land use plans and urban design, and access needs, affecting design options as part of the Downtown University Avenue vicinity require a more comprehensive planning effort. Such an effort has been separated from the current citywide grade separation planning project and will be a Coordinated Area Plan estimated to begin in 2020.

The implications to Embarcadero and neighboring streets are being studies through a thorough traffic analysis and possible mitigations related to the Churchill closure alternative.

Incorporating bike and pedestrian facilities will be unique to each crossing location and will consider the City’s Bicycle + Pedestrian Transportation Plan and Safe Routes to School as well and the evaluation criteria to provide clear, safe routes for pedestrians and bikes.

The specific bike and pedestrian connectivity at Churchill is being studied in the Churchill closure alternative.

Animations and renderings are available for the Meadow/Charleston Trench, Hybrid, and Viaduct alternatives. Renderings are available for the Churchill bike/pedestrian undercrossing. It is estimated that by late Fall 2019, all Churchill animations and rendering, plus South Palo Alto tunnel animations and renderings, will be available.


Caltrain Considerations

Caltrain has a standard procedure for design variances. It outlines the approval process and required supporting documentation. The allowable maximum grade takes into consideration factors such as operational impacts, vehicle performance, proximity to stations, other site specific conditions, and maintenance impacts. A comprehensive study including operational simulations is required to support the design variance request.

Additionally, the requestor is responsible for the costs to support the variance review/analysis. City Council has asked Caltrain to clarify the conditions, but Caltrain has not committed to any criteria to date.

Caltrain minimum clearance to the pole and wires is established to meet California Public Utilities Commission requirements such as General Order 95 and SED 2. Union Pacific Railroad also requires minimum clearances for freight.

The Caltrain Business Plan will help shape a long-range vision for the corridor and will address how train service will grow over time and the kinds of supporting infrastructure that may be needed to support this growth. This work includes a significant focus on the issue of grade-crossings and an effort to develop a corridor-wide strategy to support the funding and implementation of grade separations. According to Caltrain, changes to Caltrain’s standards must be considered in a way that is careful, deliberate and fully and fairly weighs both benefits and consequences, and should be undertaken on a system-wide basis. The Caltrain Business Plan should be available soon.

The City of Palo Alto should assume that freight will continue to operate diesel locomotives along the corridor, even after Caltrain electrifies the line. Union Pacific Railroad (UPRR) use of the Caltrain Corridor is governed by the Surface Transportation Board. Subsequently, Caltrain has a trackage rights agreement with UPRR that specifies the terms of freight operations. After the electrification of the corridor, it is anticipated that a short-line freight operator will replace UPRR. In addition, the Caltrain Corridor is included in the STRACNET Corridor which specifies additional requirements to allow shipments of military equipment, if needed.

The Peninsula Corridor Electrification Project (PCEP) or CalMod does not include any grade separations. As stated previously, the Business Plan will identify a long term service vision for the corridor and the infrastructure needed to support that service. The Plan will also include a strategy for funding these investments over time. It is anticipated that a variety of local, regional, state and federal funding sources will be needed to support these corridor-wide investments.

Environmental and economic life-cycle assessments should be performed for all alternatives. For a traditional grade separation such as raising and/or lowering the track by embankment, viaduct and bridge, the City of Palo Alto may assume that Caltrain will take on the maintenance responsibility for such new infrastructure. However, the City of Palo Alto may assume it is responsible for the cost to maintain trench and/or tunnel alternatives as they are anticipated to be significantly more expensive to maintain.

Additionally, a mixed operation with freight (diesel powered locomotive) and passenger trains in a tunnel is not desired and requires special attention by FRA under High-Speed Passenger Rail Operations. Ultimately, the specific terms of a maintenance agreement would need to be negotiated between Caltrain and the City.

In general, the shoofly track shall be designed for timetable speed for both passenger and freight trains per Caltrain standards and operating requirements. Except for approved construction windows during cut over operations, the proposed grade separation design shall keep all Caltrain tracks fully operational at all times and shall cause no interruption to train operations during construction. The construction of the grade separation shall not temporarily or permanently reduce the future demand on the Caltrain operating system and shall meet future Caltrain standards and requirements.