Palo Alto — The City Council on Dec. 15 directed staff to advance preliminary engineering to 15% on three grade-separation options intended to reduce crossings of the Caltrain corridor and improve safety and traffic flow.

The council voted 6–0–1 (Council member Rechtel recused) to move forward with: a direct-access-ramp underpass at Charleston Road; a hybrid grade-separation alternative at Meadow Drive (staff will evaluate both earthen-berm and podium-style hybrid design variants); and a partial underpass at Churchill Avenue that includes a bicycle-and-pedestrian ramp on the east (Alma Street) side and specific attention to east-side bike safety.

Why it mattered: consultants and staff told the council that, on aggregate, underpass options produce the largest reductions in cumulative network delay. Project manager Edward Torres summarized the technical finding in the presentation: “There is a substantive improvement in delay for the network as a whole between hybrid and underpass.” He and other transportation staff also stressed modeling caveats — traffic forecasts are scenario-based and can understate induced demand if capacity is increased.

Council members debated trade-offs. Supporters of underpasses said they deliver much larger reductions in delay at the busiest crossings and better long-term safety by physically separating trains and people. Opponents and those urging caution highlighted larger property impacts, potential acquisition or relocation needs, and construction complexity, and asked staff to further analyze the implications of building only a single underpass first.

What the council directed staff to do: prepare 15% design drawings and environmental project footprints to support future funding and more refined cost estimates for the three selected alternatives; study implementation sequencing and the system-level impacts if only one underpass were built; and include podium-style hybrid options for Meadow so the city can compare earthen berm versus podium approaches during design and cost-estimating.

The motion passed after extensive questioning about model assumptions, bicycle travel-time impacts, and project sequencing. Staff noted the federal Grant Agreement requires preliminary engineering and environmental work for the three crossings; proceeding to 15% will allow the city to produce more accurate market-based cost estimates and to move toward grantable project descriptions.

Next steps: staff will return with 15% drawings, refined cost estimates and sequencing options, and further traffic analyses that test the effects of building a single underpass in the corridor. The council’s action establishes the project footprints the city will use for environmental review and grant discussions.

(Reporting by City Hall staff and city transportation consultants.)