Broadway rail separation is top goal for Burlingame

The project could break ground in March 2025 if it receives the appropriate funding, Beach said.

“There’s no greater top priority I can make a greater impact in a meaningful way on than Broadway grade separation, and we’re almost there,” she said. “This is the year if we don’t get it it’s the first time the project doesn’t get started on time. That means lives get lost. It means more Caltrain delays. And it means the cost is going to go up.”

Total project cost is estimated at $325 million, with $17 million committed from Burlingame, $24 million in county transportation sales tax money, $133 million in potential county sales tax funding, $85 million in state funding, with about $58 million left to secure.

At the meeting, Beach reiterated her commitment to the city obtaining the remaining funding, and asked her fellow councilmembers to do the same. The current intersection has had six occupied vehicle collisions in the last 20 months, she said.

City Manager Lisa Goldman also said during her presentation on the city’s development projects that accidents and slowdowns at Broadway train tracks, which is near Highway 101, affect the entire area.

“This is not a Burlingame project, this is a regional project,” she said.

El Camino Real, communication

Alongside the grade separation project, Burlingame is also making plans for the redevelopment of El Camino Real, Goldman said. About $6 million will be set aside for undergrounding utilities, an integral aspect of the project. Trees that are no longer safe will also be removed and Caltrans has committed to retain the current grove’s character.

Caltrans owns the road and is still working on the project phasing and might begin with San Mateo and Millbrae’s stretch of the road because the development is less complicated, Goldman said.

“The two things that could improve the quality of life for Burlingame residents is El Camino and the grade separation,” Councilmember Ricardo Ortiz said. “To hear that they are going to get started on both of those, with shovels on the ground for the grade separation by 2025, is great.”

He said a priority for 2024 was communication with residents about the upcoming disruptions they would be experiencing and avoiding situations like the California Drive bike lane project, which prompted concerns from business owners who said they never received notification of the project.

Mayor Donna Colson also emphasized the importance of establishing lines of conversation with Burlingame residents, including an upcoming June. 8 community engagement fair and office hours for all members of the City Council.

“One of our themes this year as we’re getting out of COVID is community engagement, transparency and trying to figure out how people can participate in the democratic process,” she said.

Other upcoming or planned development projects include two biotech buildings from Divco West and Helios, Top Golf, a new Burlingame town square and a potential new City Hall.

Housing, AI

In a presentation on Burlingame’s housing stock, Community Development Director Kevin Gardiner said that Burlingame has a total of 2,414 housing units under construction, approval or review, with 18% affordable housing units.

The goal is to “create some interesting transformation in neighborhoods where the community thought would be appropriate but also fit into the existing fabric of the neighborhood” through both proactive and reactive measures, Gardiner said.

Councilmember Michael Brownrigg said that one of his top goals for the year was to prioritize housing, including through HEART, the Housing Endowment and Regional Trust of San Mateo County, which he chairs.

In 20 years, this agency will have mobilized $16 million and contributed 2,000 housing units, a sharp contrast to an equivalent Santa Clara County agency which mobilized $250 million and was responsible for over 25,000 housing units. Now that he’s no longer mayor, Brownrigg said he’ll have more time to motivate the HEART team to reach for higher numbers.

“You can have the best of both worlds. You can have wonderful single-family home neighborhoods and wonderful apartment buildings,” he said.

Lastly, Councilmember Peter Stevenson said that one of his overarching objectives for the year was the development of a framework for a responsible AI program for the city.

“There’s a lot of great things that could come from the AI space … but it also comes from a lot of risks and a lot of things that are trying to catch up from a regulatory standpoint,” he said. “Responsible AI to me means, how do we measurably improve community engagement through AI, how do we help drive better return on the revenue returns we have, how do we improve safety?”