The Burlingame Voice

Broadway Interchange - Part 1

I'm sure the story of how and when the upgrades to the Broadway interchange will happen will be a multi-part, multi-year story--it already is.  The Mercury Times has an article on the basics today that notes

The current mazelike setup, which includes 19 approaches and connections to the freeway, will be made simpler, and all the onramps and offramps will be replaced.

And mentions the community outreach program that will have more of the details

The plans are available at dot.ca.gov/dist4/envdocs.htm, and comments can be sent to [email protected]. The agency will hold an open house from 6 to 8 p.m. on Sept. 15 in the Lane Community Room at the Burlingame Public Library.

The Peninsula Ave. interchange is a simple project compared to B'way--and how do you do anything before we know what will happen with the High Cost Rail idiocy planned to run right through there as well?  Let's not mess up the bike overpass either.

Pet Food Express Off and Running

Yesterday, the Pet Food Express store held its Grand Opening at the Blockbuster location (or the Rorke's location for you old timers or next to the original City Hall location for you really, really old timers).  It was truly a grand event with Diane Dwyer of KNTV, Ivan the BPD K-9, and Tillman the world-famous skateboarding dog all present.

I tried out the do-it-yourself dog washing stations which will compete with Scrub-a-Pup in San Mateo and wandered the aisles full of all sorts of dog and cat accoutrements.  Total fun.  Here's a great shot of Tillman doing his thing courtesy of Mark Rogers Photography who was on hand to capture the day for the store's advertising.  Thanks for sharing, Mark.

High Cost Rail - Part 28 Correcting Diridon...again.

Here's a Letter to the Editor of the Mercury Times from local Charles Voltz who is doing a great job keeping people like Ron Diridon honest--or at least trying to keep them honest:

Answers on rail are misleading

Ron Diridon Sr.'s recent "answers" on high-speed rail issues (Opinion, Aug. 22) are chock-full of misleading half-truths. Here's one example.

Diridon incorrectly asserts that "if California or the Caltrain corridor miss that (2012 federal funding) deadline, our billions (of dollars) and tens of thousands of jobs will be reallocated to corridors in other states." Wrong.

If high-speed rail's plans for the Caltrain corridor should miss that deadline, the federal money at issue would just go to one of the other high-speed rail corridor projects in California that met the deadline.

On Aug. 6, High Speed Rail (HSR) submitted separate and independent requests for federal funding of four California corridors, only one of which was for the Caltrain corridor. HSR expressly advised the federal agency of its "fallback" position, namely, that if any of these four corridor projects failed to meet the deadline, the available federal funding should be applied to one of the remaining California corridors.

If and only if all four HSR corridor projects missed the deadline would any federal funds be reallocated to other states.

Charles E. Voltz

Burlingame

The are various reasons why I call HSR "high cost rail"--the building costs are spiraling ever upward and don't include some key aspects of the station design that the CHSRA have ignored, the operating costs are totally underestimated and the cost to local cities in lost revenue and property values is immense.  Lastly, the idea that federal funding is somehow "free money" to be hogged is absolutely false.

Garbage Update

Garbage is on everyone's mind today as well as (still) on their curb.  Allied Waste workers went out on strike yesterday and the Daily Journal is reporting the revised schedule as

Customers scheduled for a Wednesday pickup will be serviced on Friday;
Customers scheduled for a Thursday pickup will be serviced on Saturday;
Customers scheduled for a Friday pickup will be serviced on Sunday.

Regular services is expected next week.

The SF Examiner has a piece today that I have been meaning to cover on the new company, Recology, and the single-stream recycling that is coming to B'game.  We have received mailers saying that we would get our new bins the week of Nov 25th.

The containers, which will carry recyclable paper, plastic, aluminum and glass in a single bin, will be distributed to homes and businesses in the cities between East Palo Alto and Burlingame that make up the South Bayside Waste Management Authority. The authority’s 92,000 residential customers will also get a new black cart for garbage and a green cart for organic material.

The new bins are part of the takeover of the authority’s collection service by San Francisco-based Recology, which won a hotly contested bidding process in 2008 for a 10-year contract. Allied Waste, the current contractor, will continue to run collection until Recology takes over Jan. 1.

 

I think weekly garbage and recycling is progress.

More CalPain on Budgets

The Mercury Times has an article on the on-going Caltrain outreach program to figure out how to close the budget gap.  The core of the current ideas are:

There is also a movement afoot to counter the proposal to end weekend service by running baby bullet and limited-stop trains on the weekend, which backers say would generate more revenue. Bicyclists, meanwhile, are pushing for more bike space to attract riders and negate some of the service cuts.

But so far, one consensus has emerged: Riders would rather pay more for their existing service than see the train schedules slashed.

Allow me to throw two more ideas on the list.  A simple addition of WiFi service on the train would go along way to easing the pain of the slow service on the local trains.  It could be sponsored like airports and aircraft and actually generate revenue.  The second idea is to add a club car.  Amtrak has been doing this for years on the East Coast commuter lines and it could again add revenue from a licensee.  These seem like obvious options and could be incremental to whatever else Caltrain does including cutting the schedule.

The art that is Burlingame

On Sunday, August 29, artists of all ages and skills will descend upon Burlingame with easels and art supplies. “Paint Burlingame” invites everyone to pick up a paintbrush, pencil, pastel, or even a crayon and render a Burlingame scene. The painting event will take place all day until 4pm. Artists will show their finished artwork at the new Burlingame Hillsborough History Museum located inside the Burlingame Train Station. There will be an exhibit and reception with cash prizes for winning entries in multiple categories from 4:30 – 6pm. 

There is a small, $25 entry fee to participate. In addition to a display of the artwork, there will be a raffle for art, including a limited edition fine art print of the “Paint Burlingame” poster. Art work will be judges and prizes will be awarded to winners in multiple categories. Some paintings will be available for purchase. Entry forms can be found at www.paintburlingame.com or by contacting Joe Gurkoff at 650-696-1180 or [email protected].

 

Safeway Part 58 - The Final Month

The long saga of our old Safeway and Walgreen's stores is about to end. The schedule below was described in an e-mail from someone on the Safeway Working Group:

Until the construction bid is awarded, there is still a chance some of these dates could be adjusted.  The culvert bypass referred below is part of the city plans.  It will branch off of the existing culvert that runs under the Safeway project. 

 

September 18th - store closes; commence abatement as well as commence work on the box culvert bypass

 

September 30th - Safeway expects to award the construction contract

 

October 19th - start of demolition of all the buildings (except the old Wells Fargo Building which is being remodeled)

 

August 2011 -  Planned opening of the new Safeway

 

April - Expected completion of the shops

 

I wonder if I can get dibs on the buzzer at the seafood counter?

Green Comedy

Scott Adams, the creator of the Dilbert comic strip, had a very funny piece in the Wall Street Journal yesterday.  Like Dilbert, his article on green buildings is pointedly funny while hitting on bits of truth.  Here are a couple funny quotes to consider if you are planning on trying this at home:

The greenest home is one that you don't build.  If you really want to save the Earth, move in with another family and share a house that's already built.

As a rule, the greener the home, the uglier it will be.  I went into the process thinking that green homes were ugly because hippies have bad taste.  That turns out to be nothing but a coincidence.

Your next hurdle is the local planning commission.  They like to approve things that are similar to what they've approved before.  To do otherwise is to risk unemployment.  And the neighbors don't want to live next to a house that looks like a compost pile.

He has a long section on solar (photovoltaic) that basically reiterates what we have heard recently about PG&E's billing and smart meters.  Scott's a funny and insightful guy!

CNBC Obit for McMansions

Here is another article on home sizes across the nation from CNBC.  I'm not sure the word has reached Burlingame yet.  One pithy quote is

In the past few years, there have been an increasing number of references made to the “McMansion glut” and the “McMansion backlash,” as more towns pass ordinances against garishly large homes, which are generally over 3,000 square feet and built very close together.

What sets a McMansion apart from a regular mansion, according to Wikipedia, are a few characteristics: They’re tacky, they lack a definitive style and they have a “displeasingly jumbled appearance.”

And another quote that could easily apply in B'game

“McMansions just look and feel out of place today, given the more cautious environment everyone’s living in,” said Paul Bishop, vice president of research for the National Association of Realtors.

 

Planning Our Downtown

The SF Examiner did a two-page layout on the Downtown Specific Area Plan that is wending its way through the approval process.  Some of the 20-year cost estimates are eye-popping:

• Streetscape: $33.7 million
• Open Space: $9.8 million
• Parking: $24.2 million

But it has had a lot of smart locals working on it:

Jennifer Pfaff, a member of the plan’s citizen advisory committee, said it’s a good compromise — it allows Burlingame to keep its small-town feel, but also prepares the city for potential growth.

“I’m optimistic,” Pfaff said. “It’s going to take some tweaking, but it’s a long-term plan. It won’t happen overnight.”

And creative thinking from city staff:

Brooks said community members have suggested temporary street closures to allow for outdoor seating in front of businesses or restaurants as part of the community gathering spaces.

“We want to have more activity on the streets,” Brooks said. Temporary closures “have been done in other Peninsula cities. We do it now for a farmers market. Why not do it partially for public space?"

The Council will consider it on October 4th.