Dear City Council Members
The Grade Sep issue has, as the Staff suggests, has been going on for a long time.
Past studies show that the hybrid solution--partially raising the track and partially dipping the street-- would require
1. closing and or partially closing all three (or 4)intersections at the tracks simultaneously would
2. require 4 years of work assuming no obstacles are revealed when digging.
Disrupting east-west communications per above could ruin downtown Menlo Park.
Sound will be reduced with electric trains, and the sound can further be dampened. Not much difference, I believe, between raised and those partially raised. Something to study.
Recently we saw hybrid grade separations along the corridor experience flooding, closures, and safety hazards caused by lowering the streets.
As for aesthetics, no one ever needs to see a piece of steel. Raised tracks can be refaced. And better yet, the area under the tracks can house stores (even tax- producing stores), or parks and whatever we want.
I hope you will continue to explore the comparative costs of fully grade separated tracks vs partially raising the tracks and lowering the streets --and the advantages that fully grade separated tracks can bring.
Thanks,
Mickie Winkler
Mickie@MickieWinkler.com
