Caltrain wraps up grade-crossing improvement project early

Jan. 28, 2019
The project included improvements at 15 grade crossings aimed at enhancing safety.

Caltrain completed its Grade Crossing Improvement Project ahead of schedule this month. This effort to improve public safety at 15 grade crossings from San Francisco to San Jose began in June 2018 and was expected to be finished by March of this year.

The project included repainting, pouring new concrete, gluing down new tactile markers, installing street medians, improving sidewalks, installing new signage and removing outdated materials. In a statement issued when the project began in June 2018, Caltrain expressed its hope that the new street markings and signs will deter motorists from stopping too close to the tracks and noted that railings will help safely funnel pedestrians to appropriate crosswalks and entry gates.

Grade crossing improvement sites included: 16th Street, San Francisco; Broadway, Burlingame; Peninsula Avenue, Burlingame; 4th Avenue, San Mateo; Ravenswood Avenue, Menlo Park; Alma Street, Palo Alto; Charleston Road, Palo Alto; Rengstorff Avenue, Mountain View; Castro Street, Mountain View and Mary Avenue, Sunnyvale. 

Median installation or median improvement sites included: 4th Avenue, San Mateo; Alma Street, Palo Alto; Churchill Road, Palo Alto; Charleston Road, Palo Alto; East Meadow Drive, Palo Alto; Sunnyvale Avenue, Sunnyvale; Auzerais Avenue, San Jose and West Virginia Street, San Jose.

The project cost $3.5 million, with $1.06 million coming from the Federal Railroad Administration and $377,000 from State Prop 1B funds. The remainder of the funding came from Caltrain’s Capital budget.

About the Author

Mischa Wanek-Libman | Editor in Chief

Mischa Wanek-Libman serves as editor in chief of Mass Transit magazine. She is responsible for developing and maintaining the magazine’s editorial direction and is based in the western suburbs of Chicago.

Wanek-Libman has spent more than 20 years covering transportation issues including construction projects and engineering challenges for various commuter railroads and transit agencies. She has been recognized for editorial excellence through her individual work, as well as for collaborative content. 

She is an active member of the American Public Transportation Association's Marketing and Communications Committee and serves as a Board Observer on the National Railroad Construction and Maintenance Association (NRC) Board of Directors.  

She is a graduate of Drake University, where she earned a Bachelor of Arts degree in Journalism and Mass Communication with a major in magazine journalism and a minor in business management.