Politics & Government

Palo Altans Call for Buried Tracks at Rail Meeting

Also strongly desire revitalization in South Palo Alto along the tracks, strengthened bike and pedestrian crossings all along the corridor, and improved street intersections.

A below-grade covered trench is the best option for new Caltrain and high-speed rail tracks in Palo Alto, according to a study presented Thursday night.

The draft “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 came to learn about the Task Force’s recommendations and weigh 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, they strongly recommended below-grade tracks, and the public seemed to universally agree Thursday night.

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The walls at Lucie Stern Community Center’s Community Room were covered with large schematic printouts of design options for dozens of locations along the rail corridor, which runs north-south through Palo Alto along the existing Caltrain tracks, and includes area on either side, such as El Camino Real and Alma. The designs included 25 potential crossings, of which 15 were deemed “priority.” Of all the existing crossings in the city, only the one at Homer was considered very good.

“Homer is a good one,” said BMS Design’s Michael Smiley, who presented the Task Force’s draft study. “It sets a good benchmark for what we could do with other types of pedestrian crossings in particular.”

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The Task Force came up with 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."

The Task Force report detailed conclusions and recommendations in four main areas: the rail corridor itself, circulation and connectivity, land use and urban design, and public facilities. After Smiley’s presentation, residents voted on their favorite design options by walking up to the printouts on the wall and placing orange stickers next to their top choices.

In the end, residents came out strongly in favor of improving the rail crossings at Charleston Ave, Churchill Ave, Matadero Drive, and the intersections of Embarcadero and El Camino Real, Churchill and El Camino, and University and El Camino.

Residents also offered Task Force members feedback on how and where the city should focus on developing mixed-use areas along the rail corridor. South Palo Alto residents in particular called for developing a “keystone” commercial center, much like Cal Ave and Downtown, somewhere on the south end of town.

“There’s a shortage of neighborhood-serving uses,” said Smiley. “There’s no grocery store that you can walk to in this area. You need to not only improve some of the connections on El Camino Real and the safety of the crossings at Charleston and E. Meadow, but also try to bring more services into the neighborhood into what would become a neighborhood center for that area.”

The report presented to the public highlighted four main areas of recommendations: the rail corridor itself, circulation and connectivity across the corridor, land use and urban design along the corridor, and public facilities through the corridor study area.

RAIL CORRIDOR

The below-grade open trench option is the preferred alternative for any rail improvements or expansion, rather than keeping the tracks at-grade. This will allow for the highest possible level of safety and convenience at any new rail crossings, because they would be grade-separated, according to the report. Furthermore, this option would help mitigate the impacts on neighborhoods and mixed-use centers.

CIRCULATION AND CONNECTIVITY

The Task Force is also recommending that any new rail system help to improve east/west connectivity across the corridor, Alma Street and El Camino Real. This recommendation dovetails with the City’s larger transportation goals, which include boosting bike and pedestrian access throughout town.

The report also highlights the need for additional rail crossings in the southern part of the study area, as well as the importance of creating a “walkable, pedestrian and bicycle-friendly community with convenient and safe access to goods and services.”

That vision mustn’t come at the expense of vehicular traffic flow, however. The report calls for a “Layered Street Framework” and a focus on retention of current traffic carrying capacity on existing roads.

LAND USE AND URBAN DESIGN

Conservation, protection and preservation of historic resources are also paramount to the Task Force’s vision, as well as enhancing Palo Alto’s three mixed-use centers to “create unique places that serve the community.”

The Task Force also wants the rail corridor plan to protect residential neighborhoods, encourage housing diversity, and encourage better use of land resources.

PUBLIC FACILITIES

As the population grows along the rail corridor, the city needs to ensure that infrastructure keeps pace, according to the study. That means a focus on adequate transportation facilities, schools and parks. The Task Force is calling for new standards to be established and enforced to ensure that this happens.

Access to public facilities will also be critical, especially to parks, recreation and cultural facilities, the report’s authors say, and school capacity and facility needs will need to be regularly evaluated as the population grows.

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