City Council Meeting
Study Session: Grade Separation Projects
April 29, 2024 www.cityofpaloalto.org
1 AGENDA
Purpose
Technical Reviews
Project Planning
Next Steps
Caltrain Engagement & Reviews
Summary of Findings
• Churchill Avenue
• Meadow Drive & Charleston Road
• Kellogg Vs Seale Avenue
Background
Rail Committee Review & Direction
2 April 29, 2024 www.cityofpaloalto.org
Purpose
3 Council review and discuss efforts completed to date.
Provide feedback on Rail Committee recommendations of the Grade Separation Alternatives for Churchill Avenue, Meadow Drive, and Charleston Road Crossings.
Input tonight will inform Council consideration on June 10 to advance Specific Alternative(s) and move into the Preliminary Engineering and Environmental Documentation phase per
Federal Rail Administration funding agreement.
3 Background
4 CAP & XCAP City Council Rail Committee Caltrain/PCJPB • Alternatives developed,
reviewed and updated
(2018 - July 2020)
• Online Townhall &
Community Input to
inform XCAP (August –
October 2020)
• Deliberation and
Recommendation to City
Council (November 2020
- March 2021)
• Council Review and Discussion
• Meadow Drive –
Charleston (Narrowed
Alternatives) - August
2021
• Churchill Avenue
(Preferred Alternative &
Backup Selection) -
November 2021
• Approved Amendment with
AECOM June 2021
• Approve Updated Council
Adopted Evaluation Criteria
(June 2023)
• Stakeholder Outreach and
Review of Underpass
Alternative (July – Nov 2022)
• Reviewed and Refined
underpass alternatives (Dec
2022 -May 2023)
• Reviewed and updated
Council Adopted criteria
(March-April 2023)
• Conducted Review of
Preliminary Geotechnical
Analysis (August 2023)
• Reviewed Matrix with
updated Council Adopted
Evaluation Criteria (Feb 2024)
• Service Agreement with
Caltrain (December 2022 -
June 2023)
• Technical Review and
Comments from Caltrain
(November 2023 –
January 2024)
• Four Tracking Review and
Comments from Caltrain
(November 2023)
• Caltrain Technical Review
Results (January – April
2024)
Project Planning
5 Mar Apr May June Jul Aug Sept
Review and selection of alternatives to
advance into next phase
Develop Service Agreement and/or Cooperative
Agreement with VTA, Caltrain, City for PE & Env
Phase
Develop and Execute Funding agreement
with FRA
City Council Review
Alternatives for Selection of
Preferred Alternative(s)
Begin PE & Environmental
Alternatives Under Council Consideration
6 Churchill Avenue Alternatives
Partial Underpass
Alternative (Local Preferred
Alternative)
Closure with Mitigations (Backup)
Option 1 and 2
Meadow – Charleston Alternatives (Council)
Trench
Hybrid
Underpass Alternative
* Viaduct Alternative was considered by Rail Committee for additional review
Technical Review - Caltrain Engagement & Technical Review Engagement with Caltrain
Grade Separation Projects Service Agreement
Caltrain Corridor Crossing Strategy Meetings
City & County Staff Coordination Group (CSCG) Meetings Local Policy Makers Group (LPMG) Meetings
7 Technical Review - Four Tracking Segments
Four tracking segments at the following three locations were evaluated:
Palo Alto Avenue Station (Four tracking between Palo Alto Avenue and Churchill Avenue)
California Avenue Station (Four tracking between Churchill Avenue and Meadow Drive)
San Antonio Station (Four tracking between Rengstorff and Charleston Road)
8 Technical Review - Four Tracking Segments
9 Technical Review - Caltrain Engagement & Technical Review Major Elements from Technical Review
Vertical Alignments
Horizontal Alignments
Right of Way Encroachments
Four Tracking Segment Design
Roadway Design & Other Miscellaneous items
10 Churchill
April 29, 2024 www.cityofpaloalto.org
11 Technical Review - Refinements of Partial Underpass Alternative Refined to incorporate feedback from stakeholders
Palo Alto Unified School District (PAUSD)
Pedestrian and Bicycle Advisory Committee (PABAC)
Stanford Staff
Community Technical Members involved in the early design of Underpass alternatives
City School Traffic Safety Committee
12 Kellogg Avenue Vs Seale Avenue Crossing
13 • Prior analyses and plans
• Proximity to alternative routes
• Landing location
• Network connectivity
• Community input
Reviewed Connecting Palo Alto Alternatives with a focus on • Safety – Constructability
• Engineering – Practical Constraints
• Maintenance and Operations
• Policy and Agreements – Ensure projects are designed to meet Caltrain's future railroad needs and preserve property rights.
• Design Criteria “Preserve the existing ROW” (2007, 2011, 2020, 2024) • Rail Corridor Use Policy (RCUP) (2020)
• Property Conveyance and fee schedule policy (2010, 2021) • California High Speed Rail Authority agreements
• Union Pacific Railroad agreements
Caltrain’s Focus of Review
Draft and deliberative - For discussion purposes only
Developed draft solutions based on available planning
level information
• Deeper dive analysis to support decision-making
• Seeking to balance needs of railroad and community
• Maintain utility of region’s investment in Caltrain
• Enable community’s vision for Palo Alto
• Intent to minimize additional private property impacts Caltrain’s Partnership
Draft and deliberative - For discussion purposes only
Railroad property is Caltrain’s most valuable and durable asset • Caltrain will explore encroachments through revocable license agreements subject to appraisals, annual fees escalated at CPI, and Board approval via the RCUP and Property Conveyance processes.
• For all alternatives and configurations requiring temporary use of Palo Alto right-of- way, a future "construction, operation, and maintenance agreement" between the City and Caltrain is needed.
Caltrain’s Guiding Principles
Draft and deliberative - For discussion purposes only
Churchill Summary of Findings
Alternative Partial Underpass w/
Kellogg Undercrossing (LPA)
High-level
Findings
• Roadway and railroad
improvements viable with
refinements to Alma Street cross
section
• Bikeway western encroachment
into Caltrain ROW not viable
• Reduce width of pathway facility to
fit within available 25’ expired easement
or widen to the west
• Or relocate pathway undercrossing
to Seale Ave/Peers Park (under
preliminary review by others)
Closure Option 1
(With Mitigations)
• Moderately
viable with
refinements, less
than optimal
eastern
ramp width (~7’)
• Wider eastern
ramp would impact
Alma Street travel
lanes
Closure Option 2
(With Mitigations)
• Viable
as shown
Churchill Avenue Rail Committee Recommendations
18 The Rail Committee Recommendations:
• Selected Seale Avenue as the preferred bicycle and
pedestrian crossing location
• Reconfirmed the preference for the Partial Underpass for the Churchill Avenue crossing
Discussion
Charleston – Meadow
April 29, 2024 www.cityofpaloalto.org
19 Technical Review - Refinements of Underpass Alternatives Refined to incorporate Feedback from Stakeholders
Palo Alto Unified School District (PAUSD)
Pedestrian and Bicycle Advisory Committee (PABAC)
Stanford Staff
Community Technical Members involved in the early design of Underpass alternatives
City School Traffic Safety Committee
20 Technical Review - Evaluation of Viaduct instead of Trench Rail Committee Review & Discussions
(Meadow Drive & Charleston Road Crossings)
Community feedback for additional review and
consideration of Viaduct Alternative
Concerns with Trench Alternative
Technical Review of Viaduct verses Trench Alternative Caltrain Review of Viaduct Alternative
Rail Committee recommendation on Preferred
Alternatives
21 Viaduct
• Viable with refinements
• Permanent impact to Alma travel
lanes for approach structures
(19’)
• Reducing the impact to Alma
travel lanes for approach
structures requires a new shoofly
track (6’)
• To retain use of Alma travel lanes
below viaduct requires a more
complex structure
• Caltrain to retain existing at grade
tracks for railroad purposes
Meadow/Charleston Summary of Findings
Alternative Hybrid
High-level
Findings
• Viable with refinements
• Includes elevating
width of Caltrain’s ROW
to retain utility
• Shoofly tracks will
impact Alma travel lanes
(12’) during construction
Underpass
• Viable with
refinements
*Trench Alternative: At the City of Palo Alto’s request, Caltrain was not charged with reviewing the trench alternative after it was replaced by the viaduct alternative within the Service Agreement.
22 Charleston/Meadow Rail Committee Recommendations
23 The Rail Committee Recommendations
• Recommended the Underpass Alternative and Hybrid Alternative at Meadow Drive and Charleston Road as the preferred options to the City Council for advancement into the Preliminary Engineering review • Seek ways to reduce property impacts
• Optimize bike/pedestrian crossings and where feasible, improve connections to bike infrastructure beyond the study area to improve the network
• Improve connection to Park Blvd
• Explore modifications/refinements to the Bike Blvd, along Park Blvd to improve overall bike network
• Further refine the traffic circle on Charleston Road to reduce the property impacts
• Refine construction impacts to better understand possible mutations needed during the lengthy construction process.
Discussion
Next Steps
24 Seek ways to reduce property impacts
Optimize bike/pedestrian crossings and where feasible, improve connections to bike infrastructure beyond the study area to improve the network Improve connection to Park Blvd
Explore modifications/refinements to the Bike Blvd, along Park Blvd to improve overall bike network
Further refine the traffic circle on Charleston Road to reduce the property impacts Refine construction impacts to better understand possible mutations needed during the lengthy construction process.
June 10 Council consideration of key decisions:
Selection of Bicycle and Pedestrian crossing location at Kellogg Avenue or Seale Avenue for the Partial Underpass Alternative at Churchill Avenue Crossing to advance into the Preliminary Engineering and Environmental Documentation Phase.
Selection of Preferred Alternative(s) at Meadow Drive and Charleston Road for advancing grade separation alternatives into the Preliminary Engineering and Environmental
Documentation Phase.
Future Council Action
Execute Funding Agreement with Federal Railroad
Administration to perform Preliminary Engineering and prepare Environmental Documentation for the project.
25 Office of Transportation Staff
Philip Kamhi, Chief Transportation Official
Ripon Bhatia, Senior Engineer
Caltrain Staff
Robert Barnard, Chief Rail Design and Construction
Navdeep Dhaliwal, Govt & Community Affairs Officer
Mike Rabinowitz, Senior Planner
Consultant:
Peter Destefano, AECOM
Consultant:
Edgar Torres, Kimley Horn & Associates
Conceptual Property Impacts
April 29, 2024 www.cityofpaloalto.org
26 Tentative Property impacts based on current
conceptual phase. To be refined in future phases
106
110
118
126
138
1415
114
142
1425
1435
1445 105
102103
119
117
123
135
1347
1325
to
1345
1525
1545
1551
1555 109 A 102
109
96 111
119
129
135
143
122
112
120
128
136
118
140
1511 1519
1527 1539 1547
1563
92 1512 1520
1528 1540 1550
1560
Churchill Av Partial Underpass Alternative
86 62
Tentative Property impacts based on current
conceptual phase. To be refined in future phases
XXX
XXX
XXX Tentative Full
Property Acquisition
Tentative Partial
Property Acquisition
Tentative No
Property Acquisition
Legend
103 106
109 110 112
114
107
113
119 123
125 129
120
130 126
128
136 134135
Seale Avenue
Tentative Property impacts based on current
conceptual phase. To be refined in future phases
XXX
XXX
XXX Tentative Full
Property Acquisition
Tentative Partial
Property Acquisition
Tentative No
Property Acquisition
Legend
3553
Alma
3553
3553
3553
3553 3553
3553 3553
171
4097
Park
4093
4085
4081
4079
4075
4060
4068
4070
4080
150
150A
250
270
4101
4103
4105
4107
4104 212
Meadow Drive Underpass Alternative
Tentative Property impacts based
on current conceptual phase. To
be refined in future phases
XXX
XXX
XXX Tentative Full
Property Acquisition
Tentative Partial
Property Acquisition
Tentative No
Property Acquisition
Legend
4187
4183
4173
4180
4225
4217
4207
4203
4201
4231
4237
4206
4200
265
275
285
220
240
250
270
280
4201 &
4201A
4205
4215
Charleston Rd Underpass Alternative (west side)
Tentative Property impacts based
on current conceptual phase. To
be refined in future phases
XXX
XXX
XXX Tentative Full
Property Acquisition
Tentative Partial
Property Acquisition
Tentative No
Property Acquisition
Legend
102
174
126
160
170
214
228
242
Charleston
256
Charleston
272
3787
110
145
137
129 109
119
110
122
127
161
124
Charleston Rd Underpass Alternative (east side)
Tentative Property impacts based
on current conceptual phase. To
be refined in future phases
XXX
XXX
XXX Tentative Full
Property Acquisition
Tentative Partial
Property Acquisition
Tentative No
Property Acquisition
Legend