Burlingame’s long-awaited El Camino Real renewal project is set to begin construction in spring 2025, taking down 382 trees, planting 429 and retaining more than 193 trees, Caltrans representatives said during an update at Burlingame’s City Council meeting Oct. 21.
The project, which will be one of the most major highway investments in the Bay Area for the next five to 10 years, will span El Camino Real from Millbrae Avenue to East Santa Inez Avenue in San Mateo. Construction is estimated to be completed spring 2027.
It will focus on undergrounding utilities in coordination with Pacific Gas and Electric, fixing poor pavement condition, widening sidewalks to meet disability standards, updating drainage and crosswalks and bettering visibility, Senior Project Manager Rommel Pardo said.
One of the most-discussed and at times hotly-contested elements of the project is the removal and replanting of hundreds of trees along the Burlingame stretch of El Camino Real, a vital element of the character of the city, some residents say.
Caltrans has worked with partners including the Burlingame Historical Society, the city and the state’s historic preservation office to prioritize tree preservation and replanting, Kimberly White, Caltrans office of Landscape Architecture branch chief, said.
“In many ways, it is the rehabilitation of the tree rows that have strongly influenced how these improvements are made,” she said.
To preserve the character of the grove, species of elm and eucalyptus that will be resilient to future conditions have been carefully selected. Utility undergrounding is being planned in conjunction with new tree plantings, as to avoid tree root cases. And planter strips and tree wells are being used for the new trees whenever possible, White said.
Burlingame Historical Society President Jennifer Pfaff praised the collaborative work of Caltrans and the city via email.
“After a very bumpy start a decade ago, Caltrans has worked hard to navigate a plan forward that will significantly improve the safety of sidewalks and the roadway while also retaining character and the relevance of national register-listed tree rows,” she said.
The project, which has construction costs of approximately $95 million, Pardo said, has other logistical issues besides the tree row that Caltrans is working on before construction begins.
That includes resolving all-right-of-way encroachments and signoffs by property owners on temporary construction easements or permits to enter and construct, which have been minimized to only 16, he said. In addition, Caltrans is working to manage potential environmental issues, aligning the undergrounding and construction schedule, and finalizing a construction price with the contractor.
Ultimately, Caltrans understands how important it is to Burlingame residents that traffic plans are clearly delineated, Pardo emphasized. Those will be circulated once the project achieves 95% design.
“We understand construction staging and traffic handling plans are incredibly important due to the urban and residential nature of El Camino Real,” he said.
Councilmember Michael Brownrigg, who has been a leader on the project during his time on the council, emphasized that residents whose properties are in the public right-of-way and might be affected by construction get in contact with Caltrans. He asked residents for patience during the upcoming construction.
“This is going to be a really good opportunity to have both a safe street and beautiful street,” he said.
(4) comments
What could the traffic plans possibly be? Burlingame, the County of San Mateo and CalTrans have managed to essentially eliminate any reasonable way to get through Burlingame as a corridor. 101 is a parking lot, California Drive is essentially gone (bike lanes) and now El Camino will be out of service for at least two years (and there is nearly daily construction there now as a prelude to this major work). Driving north/south won't be possible in any reasonable way. If somehow they fund the Broadway grade separation and begin that work, that will be the final nail in the coffin of movement in Burlingame. Is anyone even contemplating the mess these folks are cooking up?
Burlingame's population is going down and so is San Mateo County's population. But the number of cars are going up and so are rates of obesity, disease, and healthcare cost.
Which tells us people are getting richer and having more and more cars doing more and more unnecessary trips. The technical expression for what we are seeing is 'joyriding'.
The only way to stop this is good old congestion, so people switch back to public and active transportation and therefore freeing up road capacity.
More bike lanes would certainly help so people can choose to opt out of this and make their 'joyriding' at least healthy.
Or perhaps there are hoards of illegal immigrants or refugees living in one home that's funded by DHS and the hoard has 10 vehicles and the Federal, State and City governments are keeping things hush hush? I know it's true in our neighborhood. Joe has been nice enough ship in 30,000 a a month so I'm sure Burlingame is getting their fair share.
That could be totally true. We should find out when they start eating all the cats and dogs of course.
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