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Menlo Park City Councilman Drew Combs and Mayor Ray Mueller recently met in a crowded room at City Hall to discuss the city’s next steps for how to separate the city’s roads from the Caltrain line, and whether just one crossing, Ravenswood Avenue, should be separated, or others as well. There are four places where the tracks intersect with city roads, at Ravenswood, Oak Grove, Glenwood and Encinal avenues.
Two proposals have so far been formally studied by engineers, a single separation at Ravenswood Avenue via an underpass, or three separations, of Ravenswood, Oak Grove and Glenwood avenues via a hybrid of lowering the roads and raising the rail line. However, others believe the city should look into the possibility of building a fully-elevated viaduct, which would minimize the amount of road excavating needed and might be cheaper.
The discussion held Jan. 31 made evident the point that each proposal has avid supporters and opponents, so Mueller has asked staff to come up with a system that breaks up the tracks into segments and evaluates the proposal design by location. For instance, residents nearer the tracks are generally more opposed to elevating the tracks and potential noise and visual impacts of the project, compared to other city residents who favor the increased mobility options that multiple grade separations would offer.
“We’re definitely in favor of safety, and safety means multiple grade separations,” said Menlo Park Chamber of Commerce President Fran Dehn, encouraging the city to look at ways to minimize construction impacts, using methods such as construction of above-ground elements first.
The project is expected to come back to the City Council soon for action to formally recommend a preferred alternative, choosing between the two options already closely evaluated, and to confirm the scope of what else to study regarding the viaduct option.
A tunnel option has not yet been ruled out, either. Mueller said he plans to speak with leaders in neighboring cities first before more consideration is given to tunneling the train.
Editor’s Note: This story has been slightly modified to clarify the mayor’s request to staff.
I’m sure someone has considered the issue that if MP wants to elevate the tracks for its four crossings, how does that affect its neighbors? meaning the station at University and crossing at Alma in Palo Alto and the Watkins crossing and Fair Oaks crossing and station in Atherton.
It’s too bad that we have multiple systems for transit around the Bay — BART, CalTrain, and light rail and all the bus systems.
I live very near the tracks, and cannot understand the concerns about noise due to elevation… the main noise concern is caused by the honking of the trains at the intersections, and grade separation was put an end to this phenomenal noise generation. The rumble of the train on the tracks is nothing compared to the mandatory alerts as the trains approach the crossings.
Thierry, I completely agree! Horn noise is the real issue which is why we should also be discussing implementing quiet zones.
Bob: none of the proposed grade separation alternatives including the one that would fully elevate tracks between Glenwood and Ravenswood would affect Palo Alto or Atherton. None build grade separations at Encinal, and all have graduated tracks that remain entirely within Menlo Park. Thanks for raising this concern.