Caltrain Bridge Work Begins

Site Clearing Work Begins On San Mateo Bridges Replacement Project

February 11, 2014

A vegetation removal crew will begin the initial site clearing work this week along four Caltrain crossings as part of the rail agency’s San Mateo Bridge Replacement Project.

The four rail bridges in San Mateo’s North Central neighborhood are more than 100 years old and no longer meet seismic safety standards. The bridges, located at Tilton, Monte Diablo, Santa Inez and Poplar avenues, will be replaced with single-span structures.

Crews will begin clearing vegetation at North Railroad Avenue between Tilton and Monte Diablo avenues. The vegetation removal is necessary because the clearance height of the single-span bridges has been increased to meet modern standards. As a result, retaining walls will have to be constructed. Site clearing work will allow for those structures to be put in place.

Once site clearing is completed at North Railroad Avenue, work will proceed north to Bellevue on the west side of the tracks, before moving south on the east side of the tracks. The removal work is expected to be completed in June.

The construction phase of the project should begin in September and will likely take approximately two years to complete. As part of the construction, there will be temporary street closures at each of the four bridge sites. The street closures will not occur until late 2015 and 2016. 

The San Mateo Bridges Replacement Project is projected to cost $30 million. The Federal Transit Administration is providing $20.6 million and state sources are funding an additional $9 million. Caltrain is providing a local match of $370,000.

For questions, residents can call the Caltrain Construction Outreach Hotline at 650.508.7726 or email smbridges@caltrain.com. They can also subscribe to receive notifications about the San Mateo Bridge Replacement Project or join an online discussion site at Google Groups HERE.

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