Wednesday: Grade Separation at Council

[Keith Reckdahl]

The Palo Alto City Council will be considering Rail Grade Separation designs at two upcoming meetings:

• The preliminary designs will be discussed this Wednesday 12/10/2025 with public input taken
  
• The Council deliberations will occur next Monday 12/15/2025 with no public input taken
  

Council will decide which design(s) to further analyze, refining the current preliminary design to 15% maturity.  There are many design aspects that are extremely preliminary with additional work needed to better understand the costs, construction schedule, and the designs’ ability to reduce traffic congestion.  In particular, the current estimates for property acquisition are upper bounds, so an important focus of the additional work is to reduce the number of impacted properties.

There are two designs currently being considered for Charleston/Meadow:

1. The Hybrid design elevates the tracks 17-19 feet above their current elevation and depresses Charleston/Meadow and Alma by 4-6 feet to pass under the tracks.  The Alma traffic lights will remain.
2. Underpass design, where the tracks remain at their current elevation, with Charleston/Meadow depressed to pass under the tracks and Alma, removing the Alma traffic lights.  The Charleston underpass has two options:
• The Roundabout Underpass design allows traffic to access westbound Charleston by turning around at a Charleston roundabout east of Alma
• The Direct Access Underpass design removes the roundabout and provides turning access at a lower-level signal

There are two options currently being considered for Churchill

1. The preferred alternative is the Partial Underpass, where  the tracks remain at their current elevation and Churchill and the west side of Alma is depressed to provide access under the tracks.
2. The backup alternative is to close Churchill to automobile traffic, replaced with a bike/ped tunnel under the tracks and Alma

It is important to note that while the packet provides cost estimates, the estimates are out of date and do not reflect the current design assumptions.  

Please let the Council know your Grade-Separation opinions

1. Email the Council at city.c...@paloalto.gov.  Note that emails are posted on the City’s website so only include information that you want made public.
2. Provide your feedback verbally at the Dec 10 meeting which starts at 6pm.  You can comment either in person or via Zoom.  The Zoom link is listed in the meeting agenda.

The Council meeting agendas and packets are posted here:

https://www.paloalto.gov/Departments/City-Clerk/City-Meeting-Groups/Meeting-Agendas-and-Minutes

Let me know if you have any questions or problems.

Thanks,

Keith