SAMR presents Reimagine Dumbarton feasibility study to Atherton committee

Millie Tolison, director of planning at SAMR, told the Atherton Transportation, Bicycle and Pedestrian Safety Committee that the Reimagine Dumbarton feasibility study focuses on the roughly five‑mile peninsula segment of the Dumbarton rail corridor between University Avenue in East Palo Alto and the Redwood City Transit Center.

"The reimagined Dumbarton project is envisioning converting the rail corridor into a rapid bus line with additional walking and bicycling connections along the corridor and across the corridor," Tolison said, summarizing the study's leading concept while noting it is a feasibility effort to test community interest and technical constraints.

Tolison said the team seeks a cost‑effective, implementable near‑term project that could be competitive for grants while not precluding future regional rail. She highlighted potential co‑benefits including faster, more reliable transit, improved local crossings, active‑transportation connections, emergency‑vehicle access, and zero‑emission bus operations.

The presentation laid out a schedule: the first round of outreach is complete, staff will develop and model several alternatives this spring and present visual alternatives in summer and fall, and the feasibility study with an implementation plan is expected about a year from now. Tolison told the committee the study has already engaged "over a thousand people" through pop‑ups and community meetings.

Committee members and public commenters raised legal and land‑use concerns tied to state legislation. Resident Rick Doli warned that, as written, SB79 could allow up‑zoning near new transit stops and said that provision could produce "seven‑story apartment buildings" within a quarter‑mile of stops if left unaddressed. Tolison said SAMR staff are "tracking" legislative action and assessing which project elements might trigger SB79 implications and are in communication with jurisdictional staff.

Tolison and the consultants emphasized this is a feasibility study: staff will use the community input to refine alternatives, model ridership this summer and bring back preferred alternatives and concept visuals in later outreach phases. The committee did not take a formal vote on the corridor concept at this meeting; staff said legislative tracking and technical studies will continue before any formal project approvals.

Next steps: staff will complete alternatives and ridership modeling this summer, return with visuals and preferred alternatives for public input, and aim to finish the feasibility study and implementation plan within roughly a year.