HomeMy WebLinkAboutID-2777-Draft-Rail-Corridor-Study City of Palo Alto (ID # 2777)
City Council Rail Committee Informational Report
Report Type: Meeting Date: 4/26/2012
April 26, 2012 Page 1 of 2
(ID # 2777)
Title: Update on Rail Corridor Study Draft Report
Subject: Draft Rail Corridor Study Report Update
From: City Manager
Lead Department: Planning and Community Environment
This is an informational report and no Committee action is required.
The purpose of this meeting is to request the Council Rail Committee to
complete its review of the March 8, 2012 draft of the Rail Corridor Study.
This is to enable staff to return to the Rail Corridor Study Task Force with
the Committee’s feedback to prepare a final draft report. The revised
report would then be submitted to the Architectural Review, the Planning
and Transportation Commission and the City Council for final action.
Attached to this report is a Memorandum (Attachment A) providing a
summary of the changes made to the report following the Council Rail
Committee meeting on March 1, 2012 and an update on the Rail Corridor
Study project, including summaries of the Architectural Review Board and
Planning and Transportation Commission hearings, and the second
Community meeting. The item was continued from the Rail Committee
meeting in March to allow for more discussion. Following the March 1
meeting, a subsequent draft of the report, dated March 8, 2012, was
released and routed to the Committee as part of the special Council packet
for the March 15 meeting, reflecting the changes discussed in the attached
memorandum.
The most significant modifications made to the report per the Rail
Committee’s feedback have been regarding the potential rail improvements
and discussions about the High-Speed Rail project and incorporation of the
Two Track On-Grade Blended alternative. The rail configurations discussed
in the report have been simplified to two generic options: (1) Below-Grade
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April 26, 2012 Page 2 of 2
(ID # 2777)
Open Trench and (2) Two Track At-Grade. The intent is to create a policy
document that will provide direction regarding land use and transportation
policies while providing the City flexibility in responding to future rail
projects as they are still in flux. The report was drafted to be highly
consistent with and help implement the Guiding Principles of the City
Council Rail Committee. The Appendices have also been revised to
incorporate the Blended Alternative and to reflect the City’s position on the
High-Speed Rail project. A red-lined copy of the modified portions of pages
A.03 and A.19 of the Appendices highlighting the changes is included as
Attachment B for review.
Following the meeting, the draft report and comments will be returned to
the Task Force for an additional round of reviews and to finalize the Task
Force’s recommendation. A final draft will then be scheduled for a City
Council hearing and final decision.
Attachments:
-: Attachment A: Memorandum from Consultant dated April 16, 2012 on Report on the
Task Force (PDF)
-: Attachment B: Redlined Excerpt of Appendix A - Caltrain and High Speed Rail
Background (PDF)
Prepared By: Elena Lee, Senior Planner
Department Head: Curtis Williams, Director
City Manager Approval: James Keene, City Manager
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MEMORANDUM
Palo Alto City Council Rail Committee April 17, 2012
BMS Design Group
Palo Alto Rail Corridor Study 1025
Report of the Rail Corridor Study Task Force
The purpose of this meeting is to request the Council Rail Committee to provide final comments for
the Rail Corridor Study to allow for the finalization of the plan which will be transmitted to the ARB,
PTC and City Council.
Since the last meeting with the Rail Committee on March 1, the project team has addressed the
review comments provided by the Rail Committee and released a Third Draft, March 8, 2012, of the
report. During March this draft was distributed and reviewed by the PTC, ARB, Task Force and the
wider Community.
The Palo Alto Rail Corridor Study has been widely accepted with minor changes and
recommendations for incorporation into the final draft. The recommendations proposed in the study
are highly consistent with and help to implement the Guiding Principles of the Rail Committee, the
current Comprehensive Plan and the Comprehensive Plan Update. The report allows for flexibility in
responding to High-Speed Rail, Caltrain modernization and other rail expansion and improvements,
yet the study clearly explains the City’s position regarding land use and transportation policies within
the corridor.
This memorandum has three sections for the Rail Committee:
Edits made in response to Rail Committee input from the March 1, 2012 meeting
Review Comments of the most recent draft
Next Steps
1.0 Third Draft – Edits made in response to Rail Committee input
The following review comments were provided by the Rail Committee in a meeting with the City and
the consultant for the Palo Alto Rail Corridor Study on March 1, 2012. The comments were addressed
in the Third Draft of the study released on March 8, 2012.
Rail Corridor
• Two rail configurations are discussed in general, rather than referencing specific alternatives
(updates to the Background, Vision, Circulation and Connectivity sections and Appendix A):
Below-Grade Open Trench
Two Track At-Grade
• “Rail improvements/expansion” is used in place of “High-Speed Train” (throughout
document).
• Overview of the High-Speed train in the Appendix has been shortened and simplified.
Appendix
• High-Speed Rail content simplified.
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Palo Alto Rail Corridor Study – Rail Committee Memorandum April 12, 2012 | 2
2.0 Review Comments on Third Draft dated March 8, 2012 and Next Steps
Draft Review with PTC, ARB and Community
The following is a summary (not necessarily consensus) of comments collected from the PTC, ARB
and Community during March 2012 in response to the Third Draft, March 8, 2012 of the Rail Corridor
Study. The team has met with the following groups to discuss the concepts outlined in the draft
document and has received comments. The following meetings have occurred:
Planning and Transportation Commission on March 14
Architectural Review Board on March 15
Community on March 29. Over 50 participants attended (not including consultant, staff and
Task Force).
General
It was recommended the report make clear, bold vision statements.
Report should clarify what is good for Palo Alto; what will benefit the City.
Report needs measurable improvements and implementation steps.
Recommendation: move policy to the front (hard to work through all the background data).
Guiding Principles should be more prominent, especially #3.
(3. All neighborhoods in Palo Alto affected by HSR should be treated on the same basis
with respect to vertical alignment impacts.)
It was questioned whether BART should be included in the discussion along with clarification
about transportation and its users: commuters vs. local residents.
It was recommended that the Mixed-use Center in South Palo Alto be called
Charleston/Meadow Mixed-use Center.
Alma Street
Strengthen Vision for Alma Street.
Discuss Alma’s issues and design opportunities more prominently.
Discuss Alma and Rail Corridor together.
Rail Corridor
Expand discussion about the two rail options to include pros and cons.
Need stronger stance on rail, that it must be underground.
Increase number of safe, improved crossings: pedestrian/bike crossings are the most critical,
don’t need more vehicular crossings.
Discuss open space in rail corridor. Suggestion: continuous pedestrian/bike path along rail.
Discuss alternate ways of designing the trench cover, for example: a lattice configuration.
Impacts of rail on Palo Alto High School are not adequately covered in the report.
Some members of the public and commissions would like to have the California Avenue rail
crossing open to vehicles, while other disagreed.
Urban Design
Not enough on urban design and what would improve the look and feel of the corridor.
Land Use opportunities above trench were not addressed.
Implementation
Policy statements should be positive.
Chair Martinez provided policy recommendations.
Provide timeframe for implementation items.
Historic Resources along Alma Street
Beth Bunnenberg provided information about additional historic resources along Alma Street.
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Palo Alto Rail Corridor Study – Rail Committee Memorandum April 12, 2012 | 3
3.0 Next Steps: Items to discuss with Task Force
The purpose of the next Task Force meeting is to review collected comments, discuss the following
items and finalize the plan which will then be transmitted to the ARB, PTC and City Council.
A. Overall Rail Corridor/Alma Street vision
B. Comprehensive Plan policy recommendations
C. Confirmation of priority projects
D. Next steps
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Appendices
Appendix A | Caltrain and High Speed Rail
http://www.cahighspeedrail.ca.gov/
The California High-Speed Rail Project is an intra-state rail link currently being planned by the California High Speed Rail Authority (CHSRA) to help meet the anticipated increase in travel demand between the Bay Area and Southern California. The initial phase of the project is
envisioned as a 220-mile-per-hour High-Speed Train (HST) which will connect the Bay Area and the Los Angeles area. Later phases would link Sacramento in the north and San Diego in the south.
Engineering and operational details of the alignment in the Bay Area are yet to be finalized, but current planning envisions an alignment through the Peninsula from San Jose to
San Francisco along the existing Caltrain right-of-way. Within that right-of-way, several vertical alignment and operational alternatives are currently under discussion, each providing varying benefits and impacts to the City of Palo Alto and the residents and businesses located within
the study area.
As mentioned in the introduction to this document, the Palo Alto Rail Corridor Study
was initiated in response to potential major changes to the Caltrain corridor. While detailed evaluation of the actual rail improvements to Caltrain and the HST were not in- tended to be the primary focus of this study, identifying urban issues and opportunities
which may be related to the rail corridor is of central importance to the overall planning of the study area.
During the period of time that the Task Force was engaged in this study, from November 2010 until February 2012, several proposed options for future rail improvements along the Caltrain right-of-way were reviewed and one was added, the Blended Rail System. Three
of these options included the preferred alternatives prepared by the California High Speed Rail Authority (CHSRA) and their consultants, released in a report dated August 2010. All of these three alternatives are four-
track systems (two tracks Caltrain; two tracks HST). The Blended Rail System is an electrified two track alternative. The alternatives were based on variations in the vertical alignment of the rail and included the following:
Page A.03
draft
THIRD DRAFT . MARCH 8, 2012
Deleted: .
Deleted: All
Deleted: of these
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-: Attachment B: Redlined Excerpt of Appendix A - Caltrain and High Speed Rail Background (2777 : Update on Rail Corridor Study Draft
Appendices
Role and Guiding Principles of the Rail Committee of the Palo Alto City Council http://www.cityofpaloalto.org/civica/filebank/blobdload.asp?BlobID=21226
The Palo Alto City Council formed the Rail Committee as a standing committee to advise
the City Council on high speed rail (HSR) and related transit matters, and to act on behalf of the City on these matters when sufficient time for a City Council review is not available. The
City Council adopted a set of guiding principles (December 2011) to guide the Committee’s decision- making process and actions. The guiding principles state, among other things, that the
High Speed Rail Project should be terminated, but if the State should move forward the City is opposed to an elevated alignment of HSR/Caltrain in Palo Alto, and the City’s preferred vertical alignment of fixed rail in Palo alto is below grade. Palo Alto strongly
supports Caltrain and the commuter rail service at the present or improved levels of service; and supports the modernization of Caltrain, and /or Caltrain as lead agent for a phased alignment but with independence of High Speed Rail. The guiding principles
also emphasize that all neighborhoods in Palo Alsto affected by High Speed Rail/Caltrain in Palo Alto should be treated with equal consideration with respect to vertical alignment impacts, provides support for transit and urban design solutions that
will be compatible with our economic devleopmoent strategies, transportation goals
and vision of the transit corridor within our boundries; HSR/Caltrain needs to complement the goals and strategies of the City’s Comprehensive Plan; and Palo Alto
expects all current rail crossing to remain active.
Planned Public and Private Projects
Due to the current economic environment, there are few projects currently in the plan- ning or development stage in the study area. Active projects include the following:
• 420 Cambridge Street. A private four-story mixed-use project, containing four residential units above ground floor retail and semi- depressed parking to the rear. A zone change was granted to this project to allow the PTOD overlay zoning designation. Construction is nearing completion. • 2650 Birch Street. A private four-story mixed-use project containing eight residential condominium units over ground-floor office and un- derground parking. A zone change was granted to this project to allow the PTOD overlay designation. Construction has not yet begun. • 801 Alma Street. A private four-story 50-unit affordable family rental project replacing a substation and retail building. Construction was planned to begin in December, 2011.
A.19
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THIRD DRAFT . MARCH 8, 2012
Deleted: High Speed
Deleted: (2010)
Deleted: High Speed
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Deleted: its preference for a
Deleted: below-grade alignment.
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-: Attachment B: Redlined Excerpt of Appendix A - Caltrain and High Speed Rail Background (2777 : Update on Rail Corridor Study Draft