San Bruno Grade Sep Project to Require Short Term Street Closures

July 15, 2013

Caltrain’s ongoing grade-separation project in San Bruno will require four separate street closures in July and August.

Starting on July 22, construction crews will begin excavating and removing portions of the roadway to lower the streets and allow for greater vehicle clearance under the crossings. Once completed, the clearance for each intersection will be approximately 15 feet.

The following is a list of road closure times and dates:

-      Angus Avenue will be closed between 8 p.m. and 5 a.m. from July 22 to July 27

-      San Mateo Avenue will be closed between 8 p.m. and 5 a.m. from August 10 to August 12

-      San Bruno Avenue will be closed on two separate occasions.

• Closure #1 will require a partial street closure between 8 p.m. and 5 a.m., August 16 to August 19. Limited vehicle access will be available.
• Closure #2 will completely shut down San Bruno Avenue. That work will begin at 8 p.m. on August 23 and last through 8 p.m. on August 30. No vehicles will be allowed on that segment of San Bruno Avenue during the work.

During the closures, Caltrain will establish pedestrian and motorist detours. During the full shutdown of San Bruno, electronic signs will be displayed on Highway 101 and El Camino Real to direct traffic to Interstate 380. For more project information, visit www.caltrain.com/sbgs, email sbgradesep@caltrain.com or call the Construction Hotline at 650.508.7726.

The grade separation is a $155 million project that will dramatically improve safety in downtown San Bruno by elevating the train tracks over San Bruno, San Mateo and Angus avenues.

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.  

San Bruno’s grade separation project is funded by $92.5 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 $55.9 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. 

About Caltrain: Owned and operated by the Peninsula Corridor Joint Powers Board, Caltrain provides commuter rail service from San Francisco to San Jose, with limited commute service to Gilroy. Caltrain has enjoyed 28 consecutive months of ridership increases, surpassing more than 50,000 average weekday riders earlier this year. While the Joint Powers Board assumed operating responsibilities for the service in 1992, the railroad will celebrate 150 years of continuous passenger service in 2014. Planning for the next 150 years of Peninsula rail service, Caltrain is on pace to electrify the corridor by 2019, reducing diesel emissions by 90 percent and adding more service to more stations. 

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