Plans to raise the Caltrain tracks to pass over Broadway in Burlingame are nearing their final design phase, but the city still needs to come up with close to $300 million in the next two years to complete the task.
For decades, the city has sought to eliminate the dangerous railroad crossing that has become increasingly busy, causing traffic jams and sometimes resulting in trains colliding with vehicles. Ballooning costs, projected to be near $316 million in total, and difficulty securing funding, however, have hindered the effort.
“Broadway is subject to delays, backups and unfortunately accidents,” Alex Acenas, a Caltrain senior project manager, said. “The primary goal of this project is to eliminate those vehicle and train collisions.”
The city is seeking funding from the county in addition to state and federal grants to cover the cost and move the project forward. Officials hope to secure funding prior to the planned construction start date in 2025 and complete the project in 2028.
Caltrain estimated 30,000 cars and 104 trains pass through the crossing daily, and the number of trains is slated to double as ridership is expected to increase. Significant residential and commercial growth planned for the nearby Rollins Road area will also add to congestion.
The undertaking will additionally include a replacement of the Caltrain station that sits adjacent to the intersection. Other improvements will be made to bike and pedestrian facilities near the tracks, including underpassings near Carmelita and Morrell avenues.
Some changes to the project’s design have been made since original plans were put forward in 2017. While previous plans had called for Broadway and parts of California Drive and Carolan Avenue to be lowered by as much as 6 feet to pass beneath the tracks, the latest design will leave the road as is and instead raise the tracks more than 20 feet to provide sufficient clearance.
The new design, according to engineers on the project, will cut an estimated $26 million off the project cost. It will also avoid a lengthy closure of Broadway. Original plans would have closed Broadway by up to a year, but the new plans will necessitate only sporadic closures of the thoroughfare at night or on weekends.
“The cost benefit trade-off is so obviously on the side of making these changes, the slight increase in height is so well worth it for so many people,” said Vice Mayor Michael Brownrigg, who added the savings could be applied to aesthetic upgrades like brick cladding over the cement structure.
Recommended for you
The change will also avoid needing to relocate underground utilities like pipes and power lines, a costly undertaking that could result in complications and delays.
“It’s magnificent that this engineering team found a better solution that we could eliminate that variable,” Councilmember Emily Beach said.
The city expects close to $120 million in funding could come from federal grants and Beach, who is on the county’s Transportation Authority, indicated last month another $120 million could come from county Measure A transportation sales tax funds. The city would need to pay for $15 million of the project.
Acenas, the Caltrain project manager, said funding from the California Public Utilities Commission could also likely be accessed to provide up to $15 million annually.
Beach noted that infrastructure spending, some specifically for grade separation projects like the one at hand, could be part of the state’s budget surplus spending.
“There’s tons of money becoming available,” Public Works Director Syed Murtuza said. “We are looking at every angle that we can apply for grants.”
Keep the discussion civilized. Absolutely NO
personal attacks or insults directed toward writers, nor others who
make comments. Keep it clean. Please avoid obscene, vulgar, lewd,
racist or sexually-oriented language. Don't threaten. Threats of harming another
person will not be tolerated. Be truthful. Don't knowingly lie about anyone
or anything. Be proactive. Use the 'Report' link on
each comment to let us know of abusive posts. PLEASE TURN OFF YOUR CAPS LOCK. Anyone violating these rules will be issued a
warning. After the warning, comment privileges can be
revoked.
Please purchase a Premium Subscription to continue reading.
To continue, please log in, or sign up for a new account.
We offer one free story view per month. If you register for an account, you will get two additional story views. After those three total views, we ask that you support us with a subscription.
A subscription to our digital content is so much more than just access to our valuable content. It means you’re helping to support a local community institution that has, from its very start, supported the betterment of our society. Thank you very much!
(0) comments
Welcome to the discussion.
Log In
Keep the discussion civilized. Absolutely NO personal attacks or insults directed toward writers, nor others who make comments.
Keep it clean. Please avoid obscene, vulgar, lewd, racist or sexually-oriented language.
Don't threaten. Threats of harming another person will not be tolerated.
Be truthful. Don't knowingly lie about anyone or anything.
Be proactive. Use the 'Report' link on each comment to let us know of abusive posts.
PLEASE TURN OFF YOUR CAPS LOCK.
Anyone violating these rules will be issued a warning. After the warning, comment privileges can be revoked.