Caltrain: Four Rail Bridges in San Mateo Need Replacement

Four rail bridges in San Mateo that were built more than a century ago need to be replaced, Caltrain officials will tell the San Mateo Public Works Commission at a meeting next week.

The bridges, located at Tilton Avenue, Monte Diablo Avenue, Santa Inez Avenue, and Poplar Avenue, were built in 1903 and do not meet current Federal and State seismic safety standards.

In order to maintain safe rail operations, Caltrain is launching a bridge replacement project to bring these bridges up to current standards. The project will raise the height of the bridges as much as four feet in some sections, improving vehicular clearance at these crossings.

The project will help ensure that the bridges are safe and equipped to meet the region's future transportation needs, including new electrified rail service, and improved traffic flow on local streets.

The bridges replacement project spans a half-mile along the Caltrain right-of-way from Tilton Avenue to Poplar Avenue; the project area includes the rail bridges at Tilton Avenue, Monte Diablo Avenue, Santa Inez Avenue, and Poplar Avenue. The project will be implemented in two phases.

The first phase is site clearance which will begin in November 2013.

The work will require the removal of up to 115 trees in Caltrain's right-of-way. "Trees" are defined as anything with a 4-inch trunk or larger and include shrubs, weeds, bushes and palm trees.

Approximately 70 of the trees to be removed are heritage trees based on trunk diameter. It was determined that the City's Tree Ordinance does not apply to work on Caltrain's right-of-way; however, the Caltrain project team has agreed to compensate the City for the loss of the heritage trees.

As part of the first phase, Caltrain has conducted a detailed survey within the project limits to accurately locate the right-of-way boundaries. In order to construct the project, fence lines that have encroached onto Caltrain property will need to be rebuilt or relocated in accordance with actual property lines.

The second phase of the project is the actual bridge replacement, which is scheduled to begin in May 2014 and will last approximately two years.

The project will require some night and weekend work, and street closures of up to eight weeks in certain locations starting in late 2015.

Some residents near the project area will not have access to their driveways for up to two months. 

In addition, because the project will raise the height of the bridges, the berms that support the bridges will also be raised.

Caltrain held their first project workshop on May 2, 2013, at the Martin Luther King Center in San Mateo. About 8,800 meeting notices were sent out and more than 50 community members attended the meeting.

Caltrain's project team provided a project overview at the meeting and responded to questions from the public. Primary concerns expressed by workshop attendees included pedestrian access and lighting under the bridges, graffiti on bridge abutments and construction impacts.

It was also suggested that Caltrain present the project at the Public Works Commission meeting so the public has a chance to review and comment on the design of the project. 

The Public Works Commission meeting is at 7:30 p.m. July 10 at San Mateo City Hall, located at 330 W 20th Ave.