Caltrain Closes a San Jose Grade Crossing Monday

Caltrain closed a railroad crossing that intersects with Lenzen Avenue in San Jose on Monday, Jan. 31, reducing the number of at-grade vehicular crossings between San Francisco and San Jose to 48.

The crossing closure is a necessary step in a project to construct a $140 million maintenance facility in the area, but the Lenzen Avenue closure brings with it both safety and noise reduction benefits for the community.

The closure was done simply and inexpensively: crews installed concrete “K-rail” barriers to prevent vehicles from using the crossing, and removed warning bells, lights and crossing gates.

The closure will have minimal impact on traffic, since Lenzen Avenue dead-ends east of the railroad tracks, impacting only one company, a food distributor. Less than a dozen 18-wheelers typically use the crossing, and Caltrain’s construction team is working with the company on an alternate truck route.

The crossing closure was necessary because the Caltrain main line tracks need to be relocated for the construction of a new Centralized Equipment Maintenance and Operations Facility.

It will provide Caltrain with a much-needed place to maintain and repair equipment and centralize key functions, including dispatching. The work, which will include installation of tracks connecting to the main line, as well as storage tracks, will be done in stages. Ultimately, Lenzen Avenue will include cul-de-sacs on each side of the main line, so there will be no “through” access.

Caltrain worked with the city and neighbors on the Lenzen Avenue closure for several years. In fact, residents such as Michael Riepe, chair of the CEMOF Oversight Committee, have expressed happiness at the quieter atmosphere that will ensue, since locomotive engineers will not have to sound whistles on approaching the crossing, and warning systems will be silent.

“Those of us nearby will not miss the bells and train horns in the middle of the night,” Riepe said. “This announcement is an outstanding example of Caltrain’s commitment to minimizing the impact of its operations on those of us living near their facilities.”

Caltrain also is working with the city to close the nearby Stockton Street crossing. When that occurs, there will be no at-grade vehicular crossings for almost nine miles between Sunnyvale and San Jose, a major safety improvement because of the potential conflict between trains, vehicles and pedestrians.

In addition, Caltrain also plans to close South Lane as part of the coming reconstruction of the Burlingame station platforms.

Other crossings that are on the horizon for closure in South San Francisco, San Bruno and San Mateo will be much more expensive because they will require the construction of railroad overpasses. San Mateo County voters recently approved a half-cent sales tax to help fund such projects.

1/31/05