Meadow/Charleston at Monday's Council Meeting

[Keith Reckdahl]

Monday is the night for Meadow/Charleston!

City Council will be considering Meadow/Charleston grade-separation alternatives this Monday (April 26th).  The meeting starts with a closed session from 5-6pm, with the open session starting at 6pm and Rail scheduled at 6:35pm.

The Zoom link is listed in the Council agenda PDF:

https://www.cityofpaloalto.org/files/assets/public/agendas-minutes-reports/agendas-minutes/city-council-agendas-minutes/2021/04-26-21-ccm-agenda.pdf

Please, please, please make a short comment on Monday night.  Feel no obligation to make a long speech--simply stating your likes and dislikes is sufficient.  The March Council meeting only had a couple neighborhood speakers, which gave the impression that our neighborhood doesn't care.  Don't assume someone else will speak up.  Please let Council know your rail opinions!  

While oral statements at the Council meeting carry the most weight, please also consider sending Council an email:

      city.c...@cityofpaloalto.org

Emails to Council become public, so only include information that you want made public.  

The remaining grade-separation alternatives for Meadow/Charleston are:

1. Trench where the tracks are lowered under Meadow/Charleston
   
2. Viaduct where the tracks are raised on a 20-foot structure
   
3. Hybrid where the tracks are raised on a 15-foot berm and Meadow/Charleston are lowered 5 feet
   
4. Underpass where Charleston/Meadow are lowered to run under the tracks and Alma
   

COVID has delayed this process, but eventually one of these designs will be built.  Your comments on Monday will help shape the work going forward.

Thank you for staying engaged!

Keith Reckdahl

Charleston Meadows resident

XCAP member

Additional information:

The April 26 Staff Report to Council is available here:

https://www.cityofpaloalto.org/files/assets/public/agendas-minutes-reports/reports/city-manager-reports-cmrs/current-year/2021/id-12185.pdf

which contains 7 pages written by City Staff along with the XCAP report (without appendices).

The full 171-page XCAP final report (including appendices) is available on the XCAP material page:

https://connectingpaloalto.com/presentations-and-reports/

The consultants' information about the grade-separation alternatives:

https://connectingpaloalto.com/fact-sheets/

Also, note that the City's new website breaks any old bookmarks that you have.  The Council page is now:

https://www.cityofpaloalto.org/Departments/City-Clerk/City-Council-Agendas-and-Minutes