Old County Railroad Crossing

Condition Description: On Old County Road in San Carlos between Bransten and Terminal there is a set of railroad tracks crossing Old County Road. These track cross the street at an angle (about 45 degrees) and this angle combined with rough and poor paving around the tracks makes crossing these tracks a hazard to bicyclists. To cross the tracks at 90 degrees to the tracks, bicyclists have to travel far toward the center of the street and then ride back toward the curb.  These tracks are not currently used and there is a bolted in place guard between the street and the main rail line preventing a train from actually using this spur.

Goal: Find and implement an improvement to eliminate or reduce this hazard. Either remove the tracks or find a method to eliminate the difficulty crossing these tracks.

Progress Updates:

Oct 21 2009

Report from 10/20/09 meeting of the San Carlos Transportation and Circulation meeting

The cement company which owes the land which could be serviced by these unused tracks is very eager to get them removed. They want to

increase the value of their property and they feel removing the tracks will increase the value of their property. They have agreed to cover

100% of the cost of removal. They are so eager they are following up every 4-6 weeks asking for a progress update. The city has asked

Caltrain if the tracks can be removed and Caltrain has agreed to allow the tracks crossing the street to be removed. All Caltrain wants is

the track coming down towards the street, they have no need for the tracks crossing the street. The city needs to conduct a title search before the tracks can be removed. Right now the city is shopping for quotations for this title search,once this is done and assuming no problems are found by the

title search, the removal should not take long.

Feb 20 2009

In their meeting Feb 19 2009, the San Carlos Transportation and Circulation Commission discussed this issue. There was a strong agreement among the commission this was a real concern and there was a willingness to work toward a solution. Removing the tracks and repaving would require a city funded capital improvement project, which would require city council approval. Currently San Carlos does not have funding for this. A motion was made to request making this an unfunded capital improvement project at the next city council meeting. However it was decided to hold off until the public works department could determine ownership of the tracks and get a better idea of the options and work involved.

Getting Involved

1. We are compiling testimonials from bicyclists whom have crashed at this site, who consider them a hazard or all who support correcting this this hazard. Please email to bikesmc@hotmail.com your support. Include your name, address, email and a short summary.

2. Send an email to: Robert Weil, San Carlos Public Works Director expressing your concern and support His email is rweil@cityofsancarlos.org. Please cc bikesmc@hotmail.com so we can help build our case.

3. If you have seen or know about options, short of track removal, to eliminate this hazard, maybe an effective method to cover over the tracks, let us know.

Looking south down Old County Road

Close up showing grooves which can trap a bicycle wheel