How will the alternatives be evaluated? RAIL FACT SHEETS ... - Palo Alto€¦ · The four at-grade crossings are Palo Alto Avenue, Churchill Avenue, Meadow Drive, and Charleston Road

November 7, 2019

Alma St

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Alma Street and Churchill Avenue Closure

Figure 3Alma Street and Churchill Avenue Vehicular Queues - Existing and “Do Nothing” Alternative (PM Peak-Hour)

= PM Queues

LEGEND

= PM Queues with Electrification

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Figure 2Alma Street and Churchill Avenue Vehicular Queues - Existing and “Do Nothing” Alternative (AM Peak-Hour)

= AM Queues

LEGEND

= AM Queues with Electrification

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Figure 2Alma Street and Churchill Avenue Vehicular Queues - Existing and “Do Nothing” Alternative (AM Peak-Hour)

= AM Queues

LEGEND

= AM Queues with Electrification

Alma St

Emerson St

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Figure 3Alma Street and Churchill Avenue Vehicular Queues - Existing and “Do Nothing” Alternative (PM Peak-Hour)

= PM Queues

LEGEND

= PM Queues with Electrification

RAIL FACT SHEETS

Connecting Palo AltoWhat is Connecting Palo Alto? There are currently six streets where people and vehicles can cross the railroad tracks in Palo Alto. Two of these intersections, called grade crossings, are above the road and already grade separated, but the other four cross the tracks at the same level. The four at-grade crossings are Palo Alto Avenue, Churchill Avenue, Meadow Drive, and Charleston Road. Traffic congestion is expected to increase at all four of these locations as Caltrain begins to run electric trains on a more frequent schedule and implement their 2040 Business Plan. Not building any improvements is always being evaluated, however, the City is actively studying alternatives to improve traffic circulation and increase public safety.Connecting Palo Alto is a community-based process to address the increased traffic congestion expected. Community feedback and collaboration are a vital part of this decision-making process that will affect future generations to come.

What happens if we do nothing?A total gate down time of 9 minutes during peak hours is expected with electrification, which is 15% of the peak hour time. At the Alma Street/Churchill Avenue intersection, the average queue length of the northbound left-turn movement would be significantly impacted and extend to Rinconada Avenue during the AM Peak (7-9am). It would take approximately four to five signal cycles (10 to 12 minutes) for the northbound left-turn to clear. In the PM peak (4-6pm), eastbound Churchill Avenue is expected to back up onto El Camino Real. With implementation of the Caltrain’s 2040 Business Plan and future growth of traffic, these queues will only get longer.

Alma Street and Churchill Avenue AM Peak Vehicular Queues Alma Street and Churchill Avenue PM Peak Vehicular Queues

Churchill Avenue and Caltrain Tracks

Meadow Drive and Caltrain Tracks

Charleston Road and Caltrain Tracks For more Rail Fact Sheets visit: https://connectingpaloalto.com/fact sheets/

For an Evaluation Summary for each alternative based on the Criteria visit: https://connectingpaloalto.com/fact sheets/

How will the alternatives be evaluated?The City Council adopted the below Criteria to be used to evaluate the alternatives.

Facilitate movement across the corridor for all modes of transportation

Reduce delay and congestion for automobile traffic at rail crossings

Provide clear, safe routes for pedestrians and bikes crossing the rail corridor, separate from automobiles

Support continued rail operation and Caltrain service improvements

Finance with feasible funding sources

Reduce rail noise and vibration

Minimize visual changes along the corridor

Maintain access to neighborhoods, parks, and schools along the corridor while reducing regional traffic on neighborhood streets

Minimize right-of-way acquisition

Minimize disruption and duration of construction

Who decides?City Council is the final decision maker for this project for a preferred rail grade separation for Palo Alto’s rail crossings. Council receives input from the community, from City staff, and from key stakeholders, and makes decisions based on this input. Council has already narrowed down the list of possible ideas from 37 to 7 alternatives. Council is expected to choose the preferred alternatives in Spring 2020.

https://connectingpaloalto.com/fact sheets/



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San Antonio StationSan Antonio StationCalifornia Avenue StationCalifornia Avenue StationMenlo Park StationMenlo Park Station Palo Alto StationPalo Alto Station

Stanford GameDay Station


Palo Alto Ave CrossingPalo Alto Ave Crossing

Meadow Dr CrossingMeadow Dr Crossing

Charleston Rd CrossingCharleston Rd Crossing

Churchill Ave CrossingChurchill Ave Crossing

Railroad

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At-Grade Crossing

Grade-separated Crossing

Palo Alto City Limits

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For more renderings, plans and animations visit: https://connectingpaloalto.com/renderings-plans-and-animations/

What is Caltrain planning?As Caltrain begins to modernize by electrifying the tracks, it is expected that the number of trains will increase from 8 trains to 12 trains during both the AM and PM peak hours. In addition, Caltrain has developed a long range vision for the growth of Caltrain and has considered three service scenarios: baseline growth, moderate growth, and high growth. The moderate growth scenario has been selected by the Joint Powers Board as the preferred scenario moving forward. For Palo Alto, this means that daily boarding of passengers at stations is projected to more than double and gate down times to increase by 137% from what they are today, which will further impact queue lengths at grade crossing intersections.

0 10 20 30 40 50 60

SERVICE CONCEPTS IN PALO ALTO

Station Daily Boardings Quickest Travel Time (min)

Notes: These service patterns represent illustrative concepts carried forward for business planning purposes. Actual service patterns may vary depending on corridor-wide and

changes in Plan Bay Area or subsequently approved by local jurisdictions.

Baseline Growth

Moderate Growth

Existing

High Growth

Baseline Growth

Moderate Growth

Existing

High Growth

California Ave

Palo Alto

108

54

29

108

36

18

27

36

N/AN/A0:070:22

0:43N/A0:050:23

0:39N/A0:050:21

0:39N/A0:050:20

N/A0:040:070:35

0:460:020:040:20

0:470:030:060:23

0:470:030:060:24

120174

160268

5786

240348

4058

80116

3057

80116

7,4101,210

14,9504,030

15,7205,530

18,0205,580

1,670350

3,7201,000

4,8401,160

4,2201,180

WEEKDAY

WEEKDAY

WEEKEND

WEEKDAY

WEEKEND

WEEKDAY

WEEKEND

WEEKDAY

WEEKEND

PEAK

PEAK

PEAK OFF-PEAK

OFF-PEAK

OFF-PEAK

PEAK OFF-PEAK

PEAK

PEAK

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PEAK OFF-PEAK

WEEKDAY

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WEEKEND

Weekday Train Stops

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University Ave

Homer Ave

California Ave

Embarcadero Rd

Oregon Expy

Palo Alto

Stanford Stadium

California Avenue

San Antonio Rd

Palo Alto Ave 1,430 1 0:08

W Charleston Rd 1,080 10 0:07

W Meadow Dr 970 6 0:07

Churchill Ave 800 5 0:06

CROSSING THE TRACKS

Peak Hour Auto Crossings

Baseline Growth

Moderate Growth

High GrowthExisting

+76% +92% +190%

+85% +137% +212%

+89% +95%

+90% +129%

Existing Crossings

Existing Existing

Note:

Gate down times shown are indicative projections extrapolated from existing crossing performance. They are examples of “worst case” gate downtimes that could occur if no grade separations or grade crossing improvements were made.

crossing improvements across all scenarios.

Crossing Gate Downtime (Assuming No Improvements) (min/peak hr)

Road underpass Bike/pedestrian path underpassRoad at-grade crossing

Road overpass Bike/pedestrian path overpassCaltrain line

Moderate Growth

Baseline Growth High GrowthPassing Track

N/A - grade separation required due to 4 track segment


Collisions (2008-2018)

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Crossing the Tracks - Gate Down Times

Service Concepts in Palo Alto

Source: CALTRAIN BUSINESS PLAN DEVELOPING A LONG-RANGE VISION FOR CALTRAIN CITY OF PALO ALTO BOOKLET, May 2019.

Source: CALTRAIN BUSINESS PLAN DEVELOPING A LONG-RANGE VISION FOR CALTRAIN CITY OF PALO ALTO BOOKLET, May 2019.

University Ave

Homer Ave

California Ave

Embarcadero Rd

Oregon Expy

Palo Alto

Stanford Stadium

California Avenue

San Antonio Rd

Palo Alto Ave 1,430 1 0:08

W Charleston Rd 1,080 10 0:07

W Meadow Dr 970 6 0:07

Churchill Ave 800 5 0:06

CROSSING THE TRACKS

Peak Hour Auto Crossings

Baseline Growth

Moderate Growth

High GrowthExisting

+76% +92% +190%

+85% +137% +212%

+89% +95%

+90% +129%

Existing Crossings

Existing Existing

Note:

Gate down times shown are indicative projections extrapolated from existing crossing performance. They are examples of “worst case” gate downtimes that could occur if no grade separations or grade crossing improvements were made.

crossing improvements across all scenarios.

Crossing Gate Downtime (Assuming No Improvements) (min/peak hr)

Road underpass Bike/pedestrian path underpassRoad at-grade crossing

Road overpass Bike/pedestrian path overpassCaltrain line

Moderate Growth

Baseline Growth High GrowthPassing Track



Collisions (2008-2018)

20

40

VIS

ION

12

What alternatives are still being considered?There are five alternatives being considering for Meadow Drive-Charleston Road and two alternatives for Churchill Avenue. Palo Alto Avenue, however, is going through a separate planning effort. As of January 22, 2019, the alternatives on the table are:• Meadow-Charleston Trench• Meadow-Charleston Viaduct• Meadow-Charleston Hybrid• South Palo Alto Tunnel – Passenger and Freight• South Palo Alto Tunnel with At-Grade Freight • Churchill Closure• Viaduct in the Vicinity of Churchill

https://connectingpaloalto.com/renderings-plans-and-animations/

Documents

How will the alternatives be evaluated? RAIL FACT SHEETS ... - Palo Alto€¦ · The four at-grade crossings are Palo Alto Avenue, Churchill Avenue, Meadow Drive, and Charleston Road