Burlingame council OKs grade separation study

With the approval, the Public Works director was authorized to submit an application for Measure A funding to complete a study report on the project, which is intended to ease severe traffic congestion impacts caused by the existing at-grade railroad crossing and train signal at Broadway.

Syed Murtuza, Burlingame director of Public Works, said this is the first step in a long process to upgrade the railroad.

“The purpose is to try to study various alternatives,” Murtuza said at the meeting. “Broadway is one of the worst corridors. If a project has a better chance of moving forward, it will score higher with the Transportation Authority.”

The San Mateo County Transportation Authority called for grade separation projects and there is about $200 million available for the countywide program. The cost for Burlingame to perform a preliminary engineering, environmental documentation and final engineering design is estimated to be $1 million and, if the city’s grant application is successful, it will receive this entirely from Measure A, a half-cent transportation sales tax.

The cost of the overall grade separation project depends on what the study reveals, Murtuza said previously. The study should take 12 to 18 months, Murtuza said.

Currently, the Broadway station is only open on the weekends. When trains pass at the intersection, one must wait for the other. That’s called the holdout rule. During peak travel times, the intersection can be blocked for up to 14 minutes per hour, according to Burlingame staff. Caltrain could reopen the station in the next few years.

There is also a $1.5 billion Caltrain modernization project to electrify the tracks and allow the agency to ditch its diesel trains in place of quieter and cleaner electric vehicles similar to Bay Area Rapid Transit trains. The agency hopes to have the modernization effort complete by 2019.

Councilman Michael Brownrigg said this is a critical project and a very good initiative. He said he appreciated that it was pulled off consent for discussion and public comment.

Mayor Ann Keighran said there will also be community meetings for potential options for the grade separation project.

In other city business, the council unanimously voted in to authorize Keighran to send a letter to the District Lines Advisory Committee expressing the city’s concerns about Burlingame being split up in the draft of the supervisorial district map.

angela@smdailyjournal.com

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