September 2016
Caltrain awards contracts to Balfour Beatty to construct the electrification infrastructure and Stadler to manufacture high-performance electric trains. The electric trains are anticipated to be in service in 2022.
November 2016
Measure B is approved by Santa Clara County voters, which includes $700 million for grade separations along the Caltrain Corridor in Santa Clara County.
Spring 2017
Palo Alto City Council directs staff to move forward with Context Sensitive Solutions Alternatives Analysis.
City of Palo Alto hosts a Connecting Palo Alto: Community Workshop #1 to engage the public and receive insight on the current challenges and future goals of the rail program.
Summer 2017
City of Palo Alto sends out Community Questionnaire #1 to capture ideas and feedback from the community about issues/concerns related to grade crossings along the corridor.
The Palo Alto City Council Rail Committee directs Staff to develop a white paper on trench scenarios, which will address constraints to a longer trench while providing a more extensive look at the Charleston-Meadow trench.
Fall 2017
City council adopts Connecting Palo Alto Problem Statement, Goals, and Evaluation Criteria.
City of Palo Alto hosts a Connecting Palo Alto: Community Workshop #2 to review Connecting Palo Alto’s problem statement, goals and evaluation criteria, and start discussing design alternatives and constraints for grade crossings in Palo Alto.
Palo Alto City Council Rail Committee receives a Presentation by the Chief Executive Officer of the Alameda Corridor East Construction Authority on their grade separation trench project.
City of Palo Alto hosts a series of three Community Roundtables to engage the public to help evaluate potential grade separation options at each of Palo Alto’s four Caltrain rail crossings.
Palo Alto City Council Rail Committee receives a presentation by the City of Menlo Park on their Railroad Grade Separation Project at Ravenswood Avenue, Oak Grove Avenue, and Glenwood Avenue.
Palo Alto City Council Rail Committee receives a presentation by the City of Burlingame on their Broadway Railroad Grade Separation Project.
Palo Alto City Council Rail Committee reviews the draft Rail Corridor Circulation Study
White Paper and the draft Rail Financing White Paper.
Spring 2018
The Rail Team, comprised of multiple City departments and the City Manager’s Office, implements a project reset to accelerate the planning, design, and construction of railroad grade separations within Palo Alto. Tentative goals are to narrow the suite of alternatives under consideration in 2018 to get to the locally preferred alternatives by December 2018, completing the environmental analysis in 2019, beginning final design in 2020, and starting construction in 2023.
The City of Palo Alto hosts the Community Roundtable Discussions to discuss the Trench and Tunnel White Paper with the community and to receive feedback.
Palo Alto City Council Rail Committee hears a summary of the Community Roundtable Discussions and also receives a report on the initial screening of the Master List of Ideas for grade separation.
City Council approves a $1.2 Million contract with AECOM to lead the engineering and engagement process for the City’s grade separation process.
Palo Alto City Council Rail Committee is introduced to the new AECOM team and continues to discuss the Master List of Ideas for grade separation.
Palo Alto City Council Rail Committee meeting is canceled.
The City Council discusses the Master List of Ideas and narrows the alternatives to the following:
- Churchill Avenue roadway under the railroad
- CAH – Churchill Avenue roadway under railroad hybrid;
- CAR – Churchill Avenue roadway over railroad reverse hybrid;
- CAX – Churchill Avenue crossing closed; improvement options include: widen existing Embarcadero Road undercrossing, add new traffic signals at Embarcadero
- Road ramps, build bike/pedestrian crossing at Churchill Avenue, and/or build Seale Avenue bike/pedestrian crossing to connect to Peers Park and Stanford Avenue bicycle boulevard;
- MCL – Meadow Drive and Charleston Road railroad over roadway hybrid and build Loma Verde Avenue bike/pedestrian crossing to connect to Margarita Avenue
- bicycle boulevard;
- MCR – Meadow Drive and Charleston Road roadway over railroad reverse hybrid and build Loma Verde Avenue bike/pedestrian crossing to connect to Margarita
- Avenue bicycle boulevard;
- MCT – Meadow Drive and Charleston Road roadway over railroad trench or tunnel; Alma Street would not be within trench or tunnel (maintains Alma Street connections to Meadow Drive and Charleston Road) with Alma Street in its existing alignment or a new alignment;
- MCV – Meadow Drive and Charleston Road railroad over roadway viaduct;
- PAH – Continue proposed Menlo Park railroad over roadway hybrid and/or viaduct across San Francisquito Creek and Palo Alto Avenue;
- PCX – Palo Alto Avenue crossing closed; improvement options include: build an Everett Avenue bike/pedestrian undercrossing and widen University Avenue;
- WBP – City-wide deep-bore railroad under roadway tunnel within Palo Alto city limits with two new underground rail stations with or without freight.
City Council also directed staff to return with an enhanced community engagement plan and to explore the future of freight and the possibility of 2 percent grade. They also requested staff to engage with lobbyists regarding funding and other matters.
Summer 2018
City Council Rail Committee met Eileen Goodwin of Apex Strategies (sub-consultant to AECOM) to discuss the community engagement strategy.
City Council approved the Community Engagement Plan, including the creation of a Community Advisory Panel (CAP). City Council also amended the list of ideas through the following actions:
- Eliminate the Churchill Avenue Hybrid (CAH) idea from consideration;
- Eliminate the Churchill Avenue Reverse Hybrid (CAR) idea from consideration;
- Break out Churchill Avenue closure option into full closure and partial closure;
- Remove the language regarding widening Embarcadero Road underpass from the description of the Churchill Avenue crossing closed (CAX) idea;
- Add to Churchill Avenue crossing closed (CAX) idea, “study additional options for addressing traffic in the Embarcadero Road underpass area including actions to minimize redirected traffic onto residential streets in adjacent neighborhoods and commit to adopting appropriate mitigations to address the impacts; and
- Direct Staff to analyze and return to Council in August or earlier with a report on the impacts to properties for hybrid options for Charleston Road and Meadow Drive.
City Council Rail Committee received a presentation about the remaining grade separation ideas under consideration.
Community Advisory Panel held their first meeting and received orientation information about their role and purpose.
The City of Palo Alto hosted a Community Meeting to hear feedback from the public about the grade separation ideas still being considered as well as the existing conditions.
Fall 2018
City Council Rail Committee discussed the proposed Cooperation Agreement with the Peninsula Corridor Joint Powers Board regarding the Caltrain electrification project. They also reviewed the scope for the traffic study for the Palo Alto Avenue Closure and Churchill Avenue Closure alternatives.
Community Advisory Panel discussed the scope of the traffic study, received an update on the recent community outreach and the alternatives still under consideration, and began discussing financial considerations for grade separation.
City Council Rail Committee further discussed the alternatives under consideration and also recommended that the City Council add a South Palo Alto tunnel with single-track freight rail at-grade. The Committee also accepted a work plan and requested a running list of key issues. The Committee also finalized the letter to Caltrain regarding electrification.
Community Advisory Panel discussed the work plan, the traffic scope, the alternatives, and the financial information. The panel also heard a presentation regarding separating the Palo Alto Avenue crossing out of study for this and into a Coordinated Area Plan. The CAP recommended a focus on the Meadow-Charleston crossings first then the northern crossings.
Winter 2018
City Council Rail Committee recommended staff to further explore the South Palo Alto tunnel alternative with freight separate from passenger rail.
Community Advisory Panel began a discussion about the Evaluation Matrix as well as the detailed review of the Meadow-Charleston exhibits, renderings, and animations.
The City of Palo Alto hosted a Community Meeting focused on receiving feedback about the alternatives for Meadow-Charleston.
The City Council received public comment regarding the alternatives still under consideration. They held off a vote until January 2019.