The Burlingame Voice

HSR - Burlingame and Underground

Burlingame wants high-speed rail line to be underground By Christine Morente (San Mateo County Times) BURLINGAME City officials have asked the California High-Speed Rail Authority to consider building its rail line underground to keep the community "whole." The City Council reviewed the route for the San Francisco-to-San Jose section of the proposed high-speed rail project and decided a tunnel is the preferred alternative. Elevated tracks using retaining walls along the Caltrain corridor would cut the city in half, according to an April 3 letter signed by Burlingame Mayor Ann Keighran. It and other comments from cities and concerned citizens will be added to an environmental impact report. Ben Strumwasser, outreach manager for CirclePoint, a consulting firm, said some cities have asked for the rail line to run underground, while others have not. He said the purpose of the scoping process is to learn what is important to communities and stakeholders. The environmental impact report will look at costs, disruptions during construction, and other issues. "We're going to be taking input throughout this process," Strumwasser said. For now, Burlingame's concerns revolve around the residential areas from Millbrae's intermodal station to the San Mateo border. In some cases, homes and parks are about 50 feet from the tracks. Burlingame High School, Washington Park and the Burlingame Avenue train station are near the proposed corridor. One-quarter of the city's population lives east of the rail line, according to the letter. "It will be a negotiation process to see what we can get in terms of a project not impacting us, and what they're willing to offer," Councilwoman Terry Nagel said Friday. "We really don't know what all the options are." The council wants the authority to consider these options: Pay for an economic study on the future impacts of the proposed service on properties in and around the corridor. According to the city, a physical barrier along the line would diminish desirability of living close to the train and decrease property values. Study options with a preference for a tunnel and or trench through the city. Restore weekday Caltrain service at the Broadway station. Caltrain has identified it as an improvement possible with electrification. Protect and preserve the Burlingame Avenue and Broadway train stations as well as the eucalyptus grove from North Lane to beyond Oak Grove Avenue on the west side of the tracks. Pay for right-of-way costs. Nagel, a proponent of high-speed rail, said the city has been meeting with San Mateo and Millbrae regarding regional concerns. The authority proposes building a 790-mile transit system serving Sacramento, the Bay Area, the Central Valley, Los Angeles, the Inland Empire, Orange County and San Diego. Trains would reach speeds of 220 mph. The system would carry between 90 million and 117 million passengers per year by 2030, according to forecasts. The project is estimated to cost about $40 billion. The Caltrain corridor has been chosen as the local route. Stations would include the San Francisco Transbay Terminal, San Francisco International Airport, a mid-Peninsula stop either Redwood City or Palo Alto and San Jose and Gilroy. The line would continue under the Pacheco Pass to the vicinity of Merced and down the Central Valley. In November, voters approved $10 billion in general obligation bonds to partially fund the project. On April 2, the Caltrain board approved an agreement with the authority to work as partners in planning, designing and constructing improvements along the existing rail line. Burlingame's comments can be found on the city's Web site, www.burlingame.org. For more information about the project, visit www.cahighspeedrail.ca.gov/. *** See further article which explains what a YUMBY is! http://www.insidebayarea.com/sanmateocountytimes/localnews/ci_12117644

- Written by Fiona

Monday Deadline for HSR Comments

The City reminds us that today is the deadline for your comments on High Speed Rail: The e-mail address is: comments@hsr.ca.gov More information here.

- Written by Fiona

High Speed Rail - Working for a Solution

Group's letter to state reveals rift over high-speed rail plan By Mike Rosenberg, mediaNews A letter drafted to reflect the solidarity of Peninsula cities worried about the potential harm a proposed California high-speed rail line could inflict on their neighborhoods is instead exposing a widening rift. The one-page letter was written by the Consortium of Peninsula Rail Cities, an ad hoc group of concerned elected officials representing communities along the Caltrain corridor who fear being silenced during planning of the high-speed train project. The consortium is urging as many local cities as possible to sign its "mayors' letter," which asks the state to, among other things, consider cutting off the new rail line at San Jose. It also is asking the cities to formally join the consortium by endorsing legal documents that would allow it to negotiate with the rail authority as a unified front. But some cities in favor of the train have made it clear they want nothing to do with the group, some of whose members have tried to strike down the project. Other cities that haven't yet staked a position will decide by the end of the month whether to join the consortium or rely on their own resources and Caltrain board representatives in negotiating with the rail authority. The negotiation process has heated up as the authority accepts comments through April 6 from cities, groups and residents on the San Francisco-to-San Jose segment of the rail line. After that date the authority will launch an extensive environmental planning process. The consortium's letter asks the authority to consider whisking its bullet trains through the Peninsula via tunnels, below-grade trenches and other nondisruptive options. The letter also requests the authority to evaluate a "hybrid" option in which the high-speed rail line would end at San Jose and become a Caltrain "baby bullet" express line north to San Francisco. It also argues for more Caltrain commute-time service as part of the local train agency's agreement with the authority to share the track right-of-way. Backers of the group argue a united front would give cities a major voice in negotiating with the state, which they contend has ignored their concerns. So far, Palo Alto, Menlo Park and Atherton seem poised to sign the letter and lead the group through negotiations. Mountain View and South San Francisco have signaled they appear ready to jump on board. But opponents such as San Mateo and Redwood City fear being linked with cities such as Palo Alto, Menlo Park and Atherton, whose leaders oppose the train plan. Menlo Park and Atherton have sued the state to stop the rail from going through the Peninsula. "Why would high-speed rail be open to an agreement with two cities that have filed a lawsuit against their ability to do what they're supposed to do?," Redwood City Mayor Rosanne Foust asked. San Mateo Deputy Mayor John Lee agreed. "I'm not going to go to a group that says, 'I hate high-speed rail,' " he said.

- Written by Fiona

Another Take, Another Town on High Speed Rail

San Mateo city leaders still behind bullet train By Mike Rosenberg, MediaNews Staff San Mateo city leaders this week again backed the concept of a California high-speed train zipping through their city, although they listened to residents' concerns about the project and had some of their own. As some nearby cities mobilize efforts to derail the train's planned route through the Peninsula, the San Mateo City Council said at a study session Monday it still thought the benefits of high-speed rail zooming through their city outweighed the potential negative impacts to the community. The council envisions the train being a convenient, greener alternative to flying and would serve residents who wanted to travel throughout the state. "I just think it's the way to go," said Councilman Jack Matthews. "I think there's a golden opportunity here." The council did, however, spend about an hour listing its concerns with the project. Ideally, council members said, the bullet train should whisk through San Mateo on raised tracks between the Hillsdale and Hayward Park Caltrain stations, and on depressed tracks or inside a tunnel through downtown. Otherwise, an elevated rail line could divide the city's downtown, which has residences, businesses and restaurants interspersed on each side of the existing Caltrain tracks. "We feel that is going to be a barrier that would really divide our community, in the downtown area in particular," Matthews said. "Our downtown really does straddle the tracks." A handful of residents spoke at the public hearing Monday, calling for as little impact as possible on the downtown area. They also voiced concerns on noise pollution and the effect on nearby developments. The city will summarize Monday's meeting in a letter to the California High Speed Rail Authority next month. The authority is taking comments until April 6 as it prepares to plan out the San Francisco-to-San Jose portion of the line. Menlo Park, Atherton and other cities have sent letters to the authority, raising concerns about noise pollution, increased traffic, and property loss through eminent domain that could occur to make room for the new tracks. The San Mateo City Council on Monday briefly discussed the idea of joining a consortium of mostly southern Peninsula cities that has been forming to present a unified front to the authority in advance of the April 6 deadline. However, the council said it did not want to share a voice with the cities some of which have taken more radical opposition to the rail line. Deputy Mayor John Lee noted that Menlo Park and Atherton sued the authority last year. San Mateo will meet with officials from Burlingame and Millbrae on a regular basis to discuss the project, City Manager Susan Loftus said. While supporting the rail project, San Mateo officials had their own concerns. The council wanted to see the tracks elevated south of downtown, and depressed tracks or tunnels through downtown. The rail line's grade change must be gradual; the tracks can only be lowered one foot for every 100 feet of track. Mayor Brandt Grotte and other council members said tunneling through downtown would be ideal, though it would prove much costlier than above-ground tracks. "I think (tunneling) is the only way to go," Grotte said. The council also reinforced the need for grade separations, where the tracks run above the street, at 25th, 28th and 31st avenues as part of the project. The train requires grade separations to run at high speed. Grotte also called for information on how many property owners would be affected by potential eminent domain actions.

- Written by Fiona

Burlingame Trolley Program

Burlingame trolley service takes a hit (by Christine Morente, San Mateo County Times) BURLINGAME The festive red-and-green trolley that takes hotel patrons to Broadway and Burlingame avenues has hit a bump. The San Francisco Airport Marriott has pulled out of the program, sponsored by the city and several hotels, because of the economic downturn, according to City Councilman Jerry Deal. Pickup and drop-off at the hotel will end Dec. 31. Because the city has already factored in an 8 percent surcharge for fuel next year, the free service will continue to run at the Crowne Plaza, Embassy Suites, Doubletree, Hyatt Regency and Sheraton hotels. In January, the council is expected to look at potential service reductions of 5 percent to 10 percent in all departments because the city is faced with budget deficits for the next two years. Deal said that the trolley service, which has not been cost effective, will be re-evaluated in six months. The City Council could then decide to change the route, reduce the number of stops or eliminate the program, said Jane Gomery of the city's Public Works department. The program began 10 years ago as a way to connect hotels east of Highway 101 with the downtown area. It was originally called the Free-Bee shuttle, and it only ran midday on weekdays. Five years ago, the hotels requested that the city operate the trolley more hours and on weekends. Gomery said that's when the hotels joined in the partnership because the city could not afford to fully fund the service, which now costs about $220,000 a year, depending on the cost of gas. The trolley stops at Capuchino Avenue and Broadway; Burlingame and El Camino Real; and the Burlingame Avenue and Broadway Caltrain stations daily, except for Thanksgiving and Christmas. The Peninsula Traffic Congestion Relief Alliance manages the trolley service. Deal said that ridership from the Marriott increased 15.6 percent in the past 12 months. However, the Marriott has less passengers than other hotels. From January to August, the Hyatt topped the list with 4,700 riders, while the Doubletree had 4,400 riders. The Marriott had 2,200, Deal said. "We think the trolley is a huge asset, and we'll do what we can to keep it going," Deal said. "Burlingame Avenue is a big destination for shopping, and it (the trolley) takes vehicles off the freeway."

- Written by Fiona

The Voters said "Just Say Yes"

State Propositions (smartvoter.org) Proposition 1A Safe, Reliable High-Speed Passenger Train Pass: 4,806,338 / 52.3% Yes votes 4,386,791 / 47.7% No votes To provide Californians a safe, convenient, affordable, and reliable alternative to driving and high gas prices; to provide good-paying jobs and improve California's economy while reducing air pollution, global warming greenhouse gases, and our dependence on foreign oil, shall $9.95 billion in bonds be issued to establish a clean, efficient high-speed train service linking Southern California, the Sacramento/San Joaquin Valley, and the San Francisco Bay Area, with at least 90 percent of bond funds spent for specific projects, with federal and private matching funds required, all bond funds subject to an independent audit? Additional article in the San Francisco Chronicle.

- Written by Fiona

Just Say No

From September 16, 2008 San Mateo County Times RIDING BLIND ON RAIL PLAN by John Horgan When the Nov. 4 election rolls around, San Mateo County's voters will be asked to take a giant leap of faith. Proposition 1A, which will be front-and-center on that statewide ballot, will ask for the approval of nearly $10 billion in bond funds to get an electrified, high-speed rail system started. If this initial financing plan is approved by the voters, the innovative rail line will wind up being constructed, in part, right through the Peninsula. It would be fair to state that no suburban county will feel the effects of the new transportation setup more than this one. But there's a problem: No one connected with the project, whose eventual total cost is only conjecture at this point, can say what the impact will actually be. If fact, if you listen to proponents of the system carefully, it seems the order of the day -- just seven weeks before the critical election -- is utter vagueness and a disturbingly bland lack of specifics. It's unfortunate, because if you believe those backers and their vision of California, their concept could be a godsend for the state. Maybe. There are lots of very big ifs involved, not the least of which is the price tag. They optimistically foresee up to 117 million annual riders (more than 320,000 per day) on a hookup that would link Sacramento and the Bay Area with key points in Southern California, all the way down to San Diego. Trains would take about 2.5 hours to get from San Francisco to Los Angeles, for example. At least that's the ambitious plan. But those touting the merits of the proposal have no answers whatsoever for concerned individuals along the high-speed route through Silicon Valley to San Francisco. Their message for Peninsulas is simple: Trust us, everything is going to be fine. That became glaringly apparent last week when some of those boosters, including Rod Diridon, a chief spokesman for the state's High-Speed Rail Authority, visited the packed Menlo Park City Council Chambers to make their case before what appeared to be a largely skeptical audience. Here are some of the questions they couldn't answer with any clarity or finality: Given that Caltrain is scheduled to electrify its commuter line as well (along the same right-of-way to be utilized by high-speed rail), where will diesel-powered freight trains operate? Will there be four, five, six or more set of tracks when all is said and done? What about grade separations? Will be they constructed so that parts of local towns, such as Belmont and San Carlos, are divided by walled berms? Will eminent domain be employed as the Caltrain route is necessarily widened and upgraded? Interestingly, a spokesman for high-speed rail, Dan McNamara of San Carlos, as he aruged for an alternative route, warned residents of Menlo Park and Atherton that the current proposal would be "a disaster for you." He didn't mention anything about the communities to the north -- in other words, most of the county. In the end, it became starkly obvious that, when it comes to Proposition 1A, Peninsula voters are flying (or riding) blind.

- Written by Joanne

Transit Camp on Saturday

High-speed rail is the subject at TransitCamp (by Christine Morente, San Mateo County Times)

It takes six hours or more to travel from San Francisco to downtown Los Angeles. Traveling by high-speed rail would take an estimated 2 hours and 36 minutes. Which option would you choose? Proponents of the rail system are willing to bet people would pick the latter. Some San Mateo County residents haven't been quick to support the transit system, however, which is touted as the next logical step to get people out of their cars. Questions still remain as to how the line would physically impact the Peninsula. "We have been given no ideas what it will look like," said Burlingame City Councilwoman Terry Nagel. In November, Californians will be asked to approve Proposition 1A, which would allocate $9.9 billion to pay for a Los Angeles to San Francisco route. Approximately $950 million would go to upgrading the Caltrain and BART systems. On Saturday, at a regional planning conference dubbed TransitCamp, Nagel plans to suggest sessions on how the electrified high-speed rail would affect the area, and how cities can encourage people to use public transit. The event will take place from 10 a.m. to 6 p.m. at SamTrans headquarters at 1250 San Carlos Ave. in San Carlos. People will be able to sign up for one-hour sessions to discuss topics of their choice. The major rules are "no complaints and no debates," Nagel said. The goal is to come up with collaborative solutions to improve transportation. "If high-speed rail is a reality, then what can cities on the Peninsula do to help to put mitigation policies in effect (to ensure that) people who live on the railroad corridor be disrupted as little as possible?" she said. "It makes sense to begin discussing it now." Rod Diridon, executive director of the Mineta Transportation Institute, said the high-speed rail project will die if the measure fails. "I don't think there's a fall back," he said. "There's no such thing as a free lunch or a free train ride." The California High Speed Rail Authority proposes building a 790-mile transit system serving Sacramento, the Bay Area, the Central Valley, Los Angeles, the Inland Empire, Orange County and San Diego. The high-speed trains would be capable of sustained speeds of 220 mph. The system would carry between 90 and 117 million passengers per year by 2030, according to forecasts. The project is estimated to cost about $40 billion. The Caltrain corridor has been chosen as the local route. Stations would include the San Francisco Transbay Terminal, San Francisco International Airport, a mid-Peninsula stop either Redwood City or Palo Alto and San Jose and Gilroy. The line would continue under the Pacheco Pass to the vicinity of Merced and down the Central Valley. Diridon said Monday he doesn't expect the trains to travel faster than 150 mph along the Peninsula. He said he wants to make sure the trains would be quieter than the ones operating now. A new study by HNTB Corp. will chose the mid-Peninsula stop and evaluate whether the tracks should be elevated, on-grade, in a trench, or in a tunnel. Diridon promised there will be many opportunities for community input. Diridon has experience in bringing a new transit system into the county. In the 1980s, he chaired the Peninsula Transportation Alternatives Project, which founded the Caltrain system. It later became the Peninsula Corridor Joint Powers Board. "Some say high-speed rail is just in time to fight cataclysmic global warming, and deficits caused by the importation of petroleum," Diridon said. "It's the step that stitches together our bits and pieces of mass transportation around the state (and) makes the system more efficient and more desirable." He attested the system will be the "safest mode of transportation invented by humankind." Atherton Vice Mayor Jerry Carlson said the city is concerned about the high-speed line. For one thing, it would zoom right through Atherton. He also suspects that property and trees along the right-of-way would be seized during construction. He hopes planners will explore alternatives that would prevent Atherton from being disrupted. "The whole construction phase is going to be something (that) I think will severely impact the town," Carlson said. "It would create a physical change in the town."

*** Apologies for including the whole unadulterated uneditorilised article but it seems this is an important issue for our town.

- Written by Fiona

Caltrain's $20.5 Million Birthday Gift to Burlingame

Caltrain unwraps $20.5 million birthday gift to Burlingame (by Mark Abramson, MediaNews) Burlingame officials and other dignitaries turned out Thursday to open Caltrain's "100th" birthday gift to the city, a remodeled train station. "This is a momentous day," Mayor Rosalie O'Mahony said. "All of Burlingame has been looking forward to this exquisite birthday gift. It's just a wonderful moment in time." O'Mahony pointed out that the train station needed a face-lift back in 1994 for its own 100th birthday. City Councilwoman Cathy Baylock, who is also treasurer for the Burlingame Historical Society, called the station "the heart of Burlingame," noting there was nothing around for miles when it was built. The $20.5 million station remodeling at Burlingame Avenue and California Drive took a year to complete, and the goal was to get it done this month as the city wraps up its yearlong centennial celebration. The project included building covered shelters in the same Spanish architecture as the station to keep waiting passengers dry in wet weather, replacing the center platform with fencing between the northbound and southbound tracks, and installing a platform for the northbound trains so riders do not have to cross the tracks to board. The 114-year-old station building was renovated as well. The new platform layout allows two trains to use the station at the same time, which was previously prohibited for safety reasons. Caltrain officials said that with Burlingame no longer a "hold-out station," service should speed up. "We are very proud of this new facility," Caltrain board member Arthur Lloyd said. "Like most cities, Burlingame grew up around the railroad." Lloyd said the project is just one part of the plan to remodel Caltrain's remaining hold-out stations to speed service along the line, which stretches roughly 80 miles from San Francisco to Gilroy. Caltrain and city officials also touted the new landscaping, improved parking, wider sidewalks and added safety features, such as pedestrian crossing arms. A public address and visual message system to announce the next trains to arrive was also added. The station is slated to serve as the future home for the historical society's museum.

- Written by Fiona

Free Rides on Public Transport on June 19

Free rides on Spare the Air Day (Staff and wire reports, Daily Journal) SamTrans and Caltrain will offer free rides June 19, as part of the region's planned Spare the Air Free Ride Day. To promote the benefits of using public transportation, SamTrans will be free all day and Caltrain will be free until noon. Fares will be reimbursed through a grant from the Bay Area Air Quality Management District. June 19, the only free ride day this year, is being announced in advance to give the public the opportunity to plan ahead to take transit. The day also coincides with the national Dump the Pump Day. The Bay Area Air Quality Management District issues Spare the Air alerts when the air quality is predicted to be unhealthy. Officials encourage people to take public transportation on those days. Concerned citizens can sign up for Spare the Air email alerts on the district's Web site, www.sparetheair.org

- Written by Fiona