Palo Alto Rail Crossings Focus Of Community Roundtables

PALO ALTO, CA — A series of Connecting Palo Alto community roundtable discussions are being held this month as part of the city of Palo Alto's community-based effort to address long-standing challenges associated with at-grade crossings on the Caltrain corridor that runs through the community. The November roundtables, according to a city news release, are to solicit the public's input on potential grade separation options at each of Palo Alto’s four Caltrain rail crossings at Churchill Avenue, Charleston Road, Meadow Drive and Palo Alto Avenue, with one of the sessions devoted to discussing a tunnel-and-trench scenario.

"With the electrification of Caltrain and potential High Speed Rail, we know there will be more trains traveling through our rail corridor," city officials said in the news release. "That’s why the public feedback on this issue is so important."

The Charleston Road and Meadow Drive crossings will be discussed in a roundtable session scheduled to take place from 6 p.m. to 8 p.m. Tuesday, Nov. 14 in the El Palo Alto Room of the Mitchell Park Community Center, 3700 Middlefield Road.

A roundtable discussion about the Churchill Avenue crossing will take place from 6 p.m. to 8 p.m., Thursday, Nov. 16 in the Aspen Room of the Palo Alto Unified School District Offie, 25 Churchill Ave.

The Palo Alto Avenue crossing is slated for discussion at a roundtable to be held from 6 p.m. to 8 p.m. Tuesday, Nov. 28 in the Community Room of Palo City Hall, 250 Hamilton Ave.

The final roundtable will focus on the Trench and Tunnel concept and is scheduled from 6 p.m. to 8 p.m. Thursday, Nov. 30 in City Council Chambers at Palo Alto City Hall, 250 Hamilton Ave.

Community members planning to attend any of the roundtables are encouraged to RSVP at Connectingpaloalto.brownpapertickets.com.

More information about the city's effort surrounding the rail crossing is posted at Cityofpaloalto.org/ConnectingPaloAlto.

Patch file photo by Renee Schiavone