Honorable Councilmembers:
RWCs Jefferson is a fully depressed road underpass — not a "hybrid."
The tracks were neither raised or lowered. Only the road was lowered. Two crosswalks (one at Franklin and the other at Middlefield) were lost due to the road slope exceeding ADA standards.
The result is that bikes and pedestrians generally avoid using the Jefferson underpass when they can cross at grade nearby at Broadway, or behind Sequoia Station or at Maple or Main.
As AECOM said, sure, Jefferson "works well for cars" ... but its a somewhat of bike/ped uncomfortable car sewer in the heart of downtown right at the library and City Hall. And THATs why many are excited at the prospect of returning Jefferson to being back to being at-grade after or as the city-wide FULLY elevated grade separation project is built.
Depressing roads has maximum construction impact and is a permanently crappy experience for humans (bikes, peds, skaters, strollers, scooters). False economy.
Also, Ms. Nash (and others) failed to notice or note in their comments about noise that I stated in my public comment that AECOM recently performed a 40+ page noise & vibration for Palo Altos grade sep study effort.
Palo Alto already recently had AECOM do a detailed noise & vibration study to address neighbor concerns related primarily to viaduct alternatives. As one can see, perhaps counterintuitively, there was little or no significant difference associated with the fully elevated viaduct vs. other non-tunneled alternatives. The viaduct was actually slightly quieter in some cases!
Full 42-page noise & vibration report:
https://connectingpaloalto.com/wp-content/uploads/2020/08/Noise-Vibration-Comparative-Analysis-Report.pdf
Slide show:
https://connectingpaloalto.com/wp-content/uploads/2020/07/2020-07-15_Item3a_Noise-and-Vibration-Report_presentation-received-after-meeting.pdf
Regarding flooding
Numerous "hybrid" Caltrain grade seps flooded (again!) in the NYE storm. Motorists again drowned in their cars:
https://caltrain-hsr.blogspot.com/2023/01/deadly-caltrain-underpasses.html
There is no way to guarantee the pumps and/or the backup power systems wont eventually fail during a severe storm or flooding associated with a creek overflowing its banks somewhere (San Francisquito). Maintaining those pumps and backup systems is a permanent ongoing expense.
Berm walls vs. open underneath viaducts
Too bad the staff report only shows solid berm walls & didn’t cite & show the huge multi-year “Level Crossings” removal project in Melbourne, particularly their fully-elevated viaduct grade seps that are quite Caltrain/Peninsula-comparable while creating new activated/usable space & connectivity underneath viaducts and at/around new elevated stations.
See videos of Melbourne’s new “SkyRail” viaducts with beautiful activated space underneath (yes, a viaduct costs more, but you get more ... much more!):
https://youtu.be/yxk5OB3FSTA
https://youtu.be/9k92EfSRsWA
While only a portion are on viaducts, they’ve grade-separated about 50 crossings in past years and I understand from a recent presentation of Caltrain’s underway Corridor Crossings Strategy Study to the LPMG (now chaired by PA mayor Pat Burt) that they’ve decided to extend the program to do around 30 or 40 more.
Burlingames "value engineered" Broadway grade sep
Burlingames initial hybrid design was too expensive (~1/3 of a billion), so they spent a YEAR "value engineering" (fancy term for cost reduction) ... and they came around to fixing (reducing) the cost by only a few tens of millions by RAISING the tracks further to avoid dipping Broadway! (Just as I and everyone told the council and Emily Beach all along.) The key point is that their "value engineering" was chiefly achieved by FULLY raising the tracks to avoid costly road lowering (and thereby reducing associated property, construction, pumping and utility impacts). And their new project cost is still ~1/3 of a billion dollars!
The fact that Burlingames now fully-elevated Broadway design is on a berm and not a viaduct is of little significance to Menlo Park. Thats their decision and keeps costs a bit lower in an area that is not the heart of their downtown as at the Menlo Park station.
Berm walls can and should be covered in creeping vines (as some freeway sound walls are) anyway to aesthetically soften them and provide a natural graffiti deterrent.
You (generally/normally) only get one chance to do grade seps right (or the best way) ... getting tracks and trains fully up and out of the way of downtown visitors, workers, and residents is better than having them at a 10-15 foot "hybrid" height for permanent maximum noise and impact.
The extra expense of an open underneath viaduct (as shown in the two video clips from Melbourne above -- which also accommodates freight trains ... video available upon request) would only be justified across the downtown area. A cheaper vine-covered berm would make more sense outside of downtown where it slopes back to the existing track grade.
Every hybrid grade sep ran into major delays and surprise cost overruns associated with excavating lowering streets and utility impacts ... please just review the history of the recently completed 25th Ave. project in San Mateo.
Cheers!
