Making the grade

In planning for their envisioned future, Caltrain sees the need for a central four-track “hub” station at which passengers can transfer between express (“Baby Bullet”) and local trains, and between commuter and high-speed rail trains. Because Redwood City sits on the Caltrain line pretty much equidistant between San Jose and San Francisco, it finds itself the leading candidate for this hub (There has been some talk of a station at North Fair Oaks’ Redwood Junction, but any such station seems less likely to be where Caltrain would put its four-track hub).

Although the year 2040 is a fair way off, Caltrain is wisely looking at the problem now, for several reasons. For one, projects like these only get more expensive as time goes by, so the sooner Caltrain makes any needed changes, the better. As well, depending upon the solution that is settled on, some properties adjacent to the Caltrain tracks will need to be acquired. It’s critical that those properties be identified and secured before developers redevelop them, which would further restrict Caltrain’s options. Finally, this will be a complex project that could cost billions of dollars and, if estimates are correct, would take seven and 10 years to complete (two to four years of which would be actual construction). Even in the best of circumstances Redwood City wouldn’t see a new station until around 2030.

Redwood City and Caltrain are not only looking to shift the city’s train station to just north of Broadway — the “Box” buildings seem to preclude upgrading the current station to a four-track one — but also to raise the tracks and possibly lower some streets to eliminate some or all of the city’s at-grade crossings. These will not only improve safety, but, ideally, also smooth traffic flows. Caltrain is proposing four alternative designs, some with options of their own. They range from one that elevates the tracks from north of Whipple Avenue to south of Chestnut Street, to a simpler, cheaper option that only raises the tracks over Whipple Avenue. While at first this latter option might seem like a obvious choice, it requires closing both Brewster Street and Broadway to cars (there would be a tunnel for cyclists and pedestrians at Broadway) and leaving Main, Maple and Chestnut streets at-grade, with cars, bikes, and pedestrians having to contend with an increasing number of trains. Options that involve raising a good portion of the tracks through the city work better for traffic, but they are likely to be significantly more expensive, and in some cases would require the acquisition of a fair number of properties. Indeed, one particular option — which I suspect would quickly be rejected by the Redwood City Council — would require the acquisition of nearly half the buildings on either side of Broadway between the Caltrain tracks and El Camino Real.

Given the many trade-offs that will be involved — including costs, properties that might need to be acquired, effects on traffic and implications of having an elevated rail line slicing through Redwood City — the City Council is going to have a tough time choosing an appropriate alternative. Want to learn more? Redwood City has created a “virtual room” at https://rwctransitplan.com through which one can see supporting data, explore the proposed options, and even attend online meetings. Much of the information therein will be presented to the Redwood City Council at its regular meeting on Monday, Jan. 25; members of the public can watch and comment. After that, there will be a question and answer session over Zoom on Feb. 3, from 5 p.m. to 6:30 p.m. That meeting, too, is open to the public, and can easily be attended by clicking the appropriate link on the wall in the virtual room.

It’ll take time, money and a lot of patience, but maybe, just maybe, having to wait at Redwood City grade crossings will be nothing but a distant memory.

Greg Wilson is the creator of Walking Redwood City, a blog inspired by his walks throughout Redwood City and adjacent communities. He can be reached at greg@walkingRedwoodCity.com. Follow Greg on Twitter @walkingRWC.