Caltrain wraps up grade-crossing improvement project early
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gluing down new tactile markers, installing street medians, improving sidewalks, installing new signage and removing outdated materials.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.
Mischa Wanek-Libman | Group Editorial Director
Mischa Wanek-Libman is director of communications with Transdev North America. She has more than 20 years of experience working in the transportation industry covering construction projects, engineering challenges, transit and rail operations and best practices.
Wanek-Libman has held top editorial positions at freight rail and public transportation business-to-business publications including as editor-in-chief and editorial director of Mass Transit from 2018-2024. 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 served 14 years as a Board Observer on the National Railroad Construction and Maintenance Association (NRC) Board of Directors.
She is a graduate of Drake University in Des Moines, Iowa, where she earned a Bachelor of Arts degree in Journalism and Mass Communication.
