City Council
Staff Report
From: City Manager
Report Type: INFORMATION REPORTS
Lead Department: Transportation
Meeting Date: May 27, 2025
Report #:2505-4671
TITLE
Project Management Plan for the Advancement through Preliminary Engineering and Environmental Documentation Phases of the Grade Separation Project at Churchill Avenue, Meadow Drive, and Charleston Road crossings
RECOMMENDATION
This report provides the Project Management Plan prepared for the Rail Grade Separation Projects at Churchill Avenue, Meadow Drive, and Charleston Road crossings along the Caltrain Corridor.
EXECUTIVE SUMMARY
Caltrain staff in coordination with City staff developed a Project Management Plan (PMP) that outlines the scope, goals, budget, timeline, and deliverables. In addition, PMP will serves as a tool to monitor and track the project progress and document risks, to enable the team to address any potential impacts to the project budget and timeline. The draft PMP was reviewed by the Federal Railroad Administration (FRA) and Santa Clara Valley Transportation Authority (VTA). After seeking feedback from the Rail Committee, Federal Railroad Administration and Valley Transportation Agency staff prepared the Final Project Management Plan.
BACKGROUND
Grade separation of rail crossings in Palo Alto along the Caltrain corridor has been an ongoing project. Over the past several years, the City has developed various alternatives for grade separations at the three existing at-grade rail crossings at Churchill Avenue, Meadow Drive, and Charleston Road. The City has also explored adding an active transportation crossing in the vicinity of these rail crossings. With the support of consultants and community input, the City developed and winnowed down project alternatives with a goal of selecting a single preferred alternative for grade separation at each of these crossings.
After various studies and refinements to the alternatives, the Rail Committee on May 23,
2024 (Staff Report # 2404-29521) recommended the City Council advance the following into the Conceptual Development phase in preparation for the Preliminary Engineering and Environmental Documentation phases:
•For Churchill Avenue at-grade crossing: Partial Underpass as preferred alternative with Closure as backup alternative. The partial underpass alternative will include the bicycle and pedestrian crossing at the Seale Avenue/Peers Park location.
•For Meadow Drive and Charleston Road at-grade crossings: the Hybrid and Underpass alternatives
The City Council, after hearing community input and Rail Committee recommendations at the June 10, 2024 (Staff Report 2402-25972) and June 18, 2024 (Staff Report 2406-31693) meetings, advanced these recommended alternatives into the Preliminary Engineering and Environmental Documentation phase of the project development.
The Palo Alto grade separation project at Churchill Avenue, Meadow Drive, and Charleston Road successfully secured $6.0M in grant funding from the FRA and executed a Cooperative Agreement with VTA to secure $14.0M from Measure B Grade Separation funding for Preliminary Engineering and Environmental Documentation Phase. Caltrain will lead the efforts in this phase and City will act as project sponsor.
ANALYSIS
Caltrain staff, in coordination with City staff, developed a draft PMP that outlines the scope, goals, budget, timeline, and deliverables. It also details project execution, including how the project is monitored to ensure the project stays on track and meets its objectives. The PMP is a living document that will be modified from time to time based on the progress of the project. The development of the PMP is a requirement for FRA grant and is under FRA and VTA review.
The PMP communicates the overall management strategy and the responsibilities, authorities, and policies guiding aspects of the Project, and delineates the processes by which project performance is measured, in response to the PMP requirements identified in the Cooperative Agreement. The PMP details the development process and outreach efforts for developing the initial design to a 15% design level. To expedite this process, Caltrain plans to use an on-call General Engineering Consultant (GEC) to advance the technical 1 Rail Committee , May 23, 2024; Item 1, Action Item, SR# 2404-2952 https://portal.laserfiche.com/Portal/DocView.aspx?id=72109&repo=r-704298fc 2 City Council , June 10, 2024; Item 13, Action Item, SR# 2402-2957 https://portal.laserfiche.com/Portal/DocView.aspx?id=72813&repo=r-704298fc 3 City Council , June 10, 2024; Item 13, Action Item, SR# 2402-2957 https://portal.laserfiche.com/Portal/DocView.aspx?id=72813&repo=r-704298fc design and engineering work needed to refine the concepts for City review and input, then develop the Locally Preferred Alternatives (LPAs) to a 15% design level. Caltrain will issue a Work Directive Proposal Request to their GEC on-call bench. The proposals from these consultants will be evaluated to select a consultant to perform this work. The design goals of this phase are to advance concepts that improve safety, improve mobility, reduce noise, and minimize potential private property impacts.
The project team will engage community stakeholders throughout this initial phase, sharing preliminary designs and soliciting input. Caltrain is currently developing a community engagement plan in collaboration with both Caltrain and the City’s communication teams.
These early outreach efforts will ultimately lead to refinement of the conceptual plans for the Rail Committee’s review and City Council’s selection and confirmation of LPAs. This initial phase is anticipated to be completed by early 2026.
The project will then proceed to the 35% design phase for the selected LPAs at each of these crossings. Caltrain will issue an open request for proposal (RFP) to obtain the services of an engineering consultant to develop the design to a 35%. Caltrain will also prepare environmental documentation in compliance with the National Environmental Policy Act (NEPA)’s and California Environmental Quality Act (CEQA)’s environmental review requirements. Additional outreach will be conducted during this environmental documentation stage to seek appropriate NEPA and CEQA analysis. This phase is anticipated to be completed by the fall of 2027.
FISCAL/RESOURCE IMPACT
Funding for these projects is programmed in the 2024-2028 Capital Improvement Plan in the Meadow Drive and Charleston Road (PL-24000) and Churchill Avenue (PL-24001) Rail Grade Separation and Safety Improvements projects. This item is included in the project scope and does not impact the established project funding.
STAKEHOLDER ENGAGEMENT
The Rail Committee and City Council meetings are open to the public, offering community members opportunities to provide comments and feedback. The Rail Committee meetings are regularly conducted, and their information is posted on the City Calendar.
Additionally, during the Preliminary Engineering and Environmental Documentation phase of the project, the City and Caltrain will coordinate on community engagement activities. A comprehensive community engagement plan will be developed to reach out to and involve stakeholders. This outreach will include community workshops, public open houses, and regular updates to various committees and commissions, such as the City’s Rail Committee, VTA Ad Hoc Grade Separation meeting, and Caltrain Board Technology, Operations, Planning, and Safety (TOPS) Committee. The project team will bring the project to the City Council for review and direction at key decision points.
ENVIRONMENTAL REVIEW
The proposed action is part of a planning study that includes the California Environmental Quality Act (CEQA) and National Environmental Protection Act (NEPA) review.
ATTACHMENTS
Attachment A: Link to Project Management Plan
APPROVED BY:
Ripon Bhatia, Interim Chief Transportation Official