Redwood City to study grade separations at rail crossings

“Redwood City is not in line for any grade separation funding now. We lost our place in line when the council 20-30 years ago said we don’t need more. Other cities took our place and jumped in front of us. So Redwood City’s not in line now for any grade separations. The studies that are going to be underway are going to help us put Redwood City in line,” said Councilman Jeff Gee.

A study in 2009 estimated the cost of a grade separation at the Whipple Avenue crossing to be between $150 and $300 million, while elevating the railroad between Whipple Avenue and Maple Street would cost about $500 million. During the meeting, Assistant City Manager Aaron Aknin said those numbers have likely doubled by now.

It will cost $850,000 to study grade separation at Whipple Avenue and the city has already secured $750,000 from the San Mateo County Transportation Authority’s Measure A Grade Separation Program. Redwood City has committed $100,000, or 11.77 percent of total costs, to the project, according to a staff report. That money was approved in the budget for fiscal year 2018-2019 and will come from the Traffic Mitigation Fees Fund.

There are eight Caltrain crossings and so far two of them have been grade separated: Jefferson Avenue was constructed below the tracks and Woodside Road over the tracks. The remaining six at-grade crossings have been identified as “signature projects” in RWCmoves, the city’s recently adopted transportation plan. A community survey found that a Whipple Avenue grade separation project to be the second favorite project behind the 101/Woodside Road Interchange improvements.

Aknin said the Whipple Avenue crossing is the most affected of the crossings in Redwood City. The area is regularly congested during commute times and as of August 2017, there have been seven collisions at the crossing, including one pedestrian injury and two driver fatalities.

Gee also celebrated grade separation as the only way to increase Caltrain service.

Grade separation can be done in a variety of ways and councilmembers specifically agreed to not pursue trench or tunnel options because of the high cost of those methods. Whatever method or scope of work is finally agreed upon, the project is still far from becoming a reality.

“Even the best-case scenario now given the timeline, we’re not going to see construction until 2030 or 2035 maybe if we get the funding in place,” Gee said. “My advice to the council is don’t ever stop planning, because once you stop planning you lose your place in line. ... Construction costs rarely ever go down, so the sooner we get started the sooner we can find our funding partners and the sooner the council can make a decision on what’s best for Redwood City.”

In other business, the council received a presentation on plans to offer a reduction in health benefits for retired city workers hired after September of this year.

If all of the city’s employee groups agree to a second tier with fewer benefits for new hires, the city could save $2.4 million over the lifetime of current active employees, according to a staff report. Savings for all employee groups for fiscal year 2018-19 are estimated to be $262,000 and would increase over time.

Employees in the second tier will receive a stipend that won’t exceed 90 percent of the California Public Employees’ Retirement System Bay Area Kaiser Premium for employee-only coverage, according to the report.

The city is currently in conversations with all of its employee groups about the change, and so far the Redwood City Police Supervisors Association and Chief Officers Association have agreed to them.

zachary@smdailyjournal.com

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