Burlingame residents can continue to stroll through the walkway connecting the Washington Park neighborhood to downtown through the train station since the City Council told Caltrain loud and clear if pedestrian access can't be increased it should at least be kept. The Caltrain proposal to close the pedestrian walkway and South Lane access routes to improve safety and make train service more efficient was shot down by the Burlingame City Council Wednesday night. Approximately 70 residents filled City Hall, many speaking in opposition to the change they claimed would create a block in the pedestrian flow through the heart of Burlingame. Caltrain officials said the decision would cause a delay for an unspecified amount of time. I understand the safety issues. I understand the hold out issues. But there are also issues we have as a community. We have to come to a compromise that works for Burlingame and Caltrain,? said Councilwoman Ann Keighran.
Caltrain officials said the opening cannot remain because it is not safe. To look toward pedestrian crossing there, I don't think we can do it at grade. Please prove me wrong,? said Ian McAvoy, chief development officer for the San Mateo County Transit District. Caltrain had also suggested bringing the station up to current safety standards, pedestrian crossings with gates and signals, 500 feet of fencing and new landscaping. The council, however, opted not to vote and asked to further discuss options to maintain pedestrian crossing, take another look at South Lane and see complete landscape proposals. Four of the five councilmembers were opposed to the plan as it was presented. Councilwoman Rosalie O'Mahony, however, said she was disappointed by the council's decision. We've been conversing about this for over two years. I believe we've invested time in what we want. I'm disappointed how we simply wasted time and money,? she said.
Stephen Hamilton, co-chair of the Citizens for a Better Burlingame, not only agreed with the majority of council but also brought forward a concept it would like to see. The artist rendition shows the Burlingame train station as a town square with lots of trees, vendors and potential for activities such as a farmers' market. McAvoy said he was intrigued by the town square concept and is willing to work with the city if it chooses to move in that direction. Caltrain, however, would not be able to fund such a project since it doesn't own the land nor does it have the funding. The proposal being discussed, however, would be paid for by Caltrain. Baylock requested the council discuss what it specifically would like to see at another meeting. Until that time, city staff will continue to work with Caltrain to address the issues raised.
Christine's article in the San Mateo Times.
I attended the two community meetings back in 2004 and if more time had been spent on what the residents would have liked rather than a car merchant griping about his parking problems we would not ALL be "wasting our time" (and Caltrains money).
- Written by Fiona
I agree. This is just another example of putting the cart before the horse. Discussion of the reprecussions of closing South Lane and the pedestrian path should have been dealt with and taken seriously by both our old council, and by Caltrain. There were comments made to the old council about the seriousness of this issue, but obviously they were not stressed enough. Unfortunately, the PR people from Caltrain, who obviously know very little about how Burlingame functions as a city, just brushed these aside, thinking the political will was there to close South Lane no matter what. I am very disappointed that failures in our own input process, resulted in Caltrain going down the wrong path. The result is a plan that has absolutely nothing redeeming about it. What is the justification for losing an historical city street and pedestrian path?
Posted by: | February 23, 2006 at 06:21 PM