The Caltrain San Bruno Grade Separation Project has reached an important milestone. Beginning with the first southbound train on Sunday, May 26, which is scheduled to depart the San Bruno station at 8:35 a.m., trains will travel on the new elevated grade separation. The first northbound train is scheduled to depart San Bruno at 9:12 a.m. During the construction trains have been operating on a “shoofly” or temporary tracks.
The grade separation is a $147 million project that will dramatically improve safety in downtown San Bruno by elevating the train tracks over San Bruno, San Mateo and Angus avenues.
During the weekend transition, trains will operate on a single track through the area. Passengers should expect minor delays due to the single tracking.
From 7:30 p.m. Friday, May 24 until the last train Sunday, May 26, passengers at the San Bruno station will board from a single platform. Visual and audio announcements will be made at the station and ambassadors and train crews will direct riders to the correct platform.
The following week, during the demolition of the shoofly and the temporary crossings and signals, there will be periodic street closures. Drivers and pedestrians will be directed to nearby detours.
Passengers will continue to use at the temporary train station at 297 Huntington Avenue until the project is finished at the end of the year. The project includes a new station on the elevated platform between San Bruno and San Mateo avenues.
In addition, there will be three pedestrian underpasses – one in the vicinity of Sylvan Avenue, one at the new station and another between Euclid Avenue and Walnut Street. Elevators will provide easy access for riders with disabilities. A total of 201 parking spaces and a “kiss and ride” for dropping off and picking up passengers will serve the station at the site of the former San Bruno Lumber.
Landscaping, improvements to Posy Park and an archway over San Bruno Avenue will create an entrance to San Bruno’s downtown.
Grade separations reduce accidents by separating vehicle and pedestrian traffic from train tracks at railroad crossings. Since the Ralston/Harbor/Holly Grade Separation Project in Belmont and San Carlos was completed in 2001, there have been only two fatalities in the area. Before the grade separation five fatalities occurred in the area during an eight-year period.
According to Caltrain’s most recent ridership count, more than 400 people use the San Bruno station on an average weekday. Ridership at the station has increased 7 percent since 2009.
The project is funded by $85.6 million in sales tax revenues from Measure A, a voter-approved half-cent sales tax for transit and transportation projects in San Mateo County. Those Measure A dollars were leveraged to attract $54.8 million in state funds and $6.6 million in federal funds. Fifteen percent of all the funds collected under the reauthorized measure (approved by voters in 2004) are allocated to Caltrain grade separation projects.
Weekly updates about the project are posted on the Caltrain website: www.caltrain.com/SBGS, where people also can sign up to receive regular email updates. For more information, please call the dedicated outreach line at 650. 508.7726 or email sbgradesep@caltrain.com.
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