Rail Corridor Study Moves Forward

A sweeping report on the impacts of high-speed rail on Palo Alto—including a vision for how best to make it work—has been approved by the Planning and Transportation Commission, according to Palo Alto Online.

The “Palo Alto Rail Corridor Study” is the result of 14 months of work by the City Council-appointed Task Force, which has met 12 times since its formation in November 2010.

Nearly 100 residents from both northern and southern Palo Alto neighborhoods last March learned about and weighed in on design options.

The Task Force made an early choice not to review every possible option presented by the California High Speed Rail Authority, which oversees the statewide project, but instead to focus on the two most desirable options for Palo Alto: buried tracks and at-grade tracks. Ultimately, the Task Force strongly recommended below-grade tracks, and the public seemed to universally agree.

The Task Force’s report details an overall vision for what a new rail corridor should offer the city.

That vision is “to create a vibrant, attractive, transit-rich area with mixed-use city and neighborhood centers that provide walkable, pedestrian and bicycle-friendly places that serve the community and beyond; and to connect the east and west portions of the city through an improved circulation network that binds the city together in all directions."