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:

San Carlos's East Side Connect Project: is to improve pedestrian, bicycle access and ADA compliance on Old County Road in San Carlos. This project includes undergrounding much of the utilities in some sections of Old County Road, widening and fixing sidewalks to make them ADA compliant and adding bicycle lanes where possible. In addition the project goal is to improve the appearance of the street adding street trees and improved street lighting. This project also provides a new opportunity to get the tracks removed. Details on this project are available at: http://www.cityofsancarlos.org/eastsideconnect/default.asp

We contacted the current public works director requesting the track removal be included in this project and attended the September 7 workshop to make public statements requesting the removal. In addition we contacted all the city council members with this request and repeated the request in the September 26 City Council meeting.

This issue was discussed at the September 26 City Council meeting where a presentation on the East Side Connection project was given. Below are some notes from this meeting.

Notes on Sept 26 San Carlos City Council Meeting

In this City Council Meeting a presentation was given to the City Council on the East Side Connect Project. The issue of the track removal was included in the presentation. 4 powerpoint slides were dedicated to this issue. These identified the tracks as a known safety hazard and there is significant interest by bicyclists to get the tracks removed. One slide was a diagram of the tracks showing the odd crossing angle. A final slide shown a concept using street striping to direct bicyclists to cross the tracks perpendicular. This would require the bicyclists at least when going south to go out into the street traffic lane a bit and then turn back toward the curb. 3 City council members raised this issue during the discussion. All supported the removal and asked about the issues relating to removal and what needs to be done. There was also some discussion about ways to cover the tracks until removal can be completed. There was no discussion opposing the removal. All agreed removal was appropriate. The city is still working to determine ownership issues and property right issues. Apparently the city now believes Union Pacific owes the track and there might be property right issues for the properties served by the tracks.

For now the removal is still not included in the project proposal as these issues need to be worked out first. We will continue to press for these issues to be resolved and removal be included.

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.

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 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