Hi,

I am a resident in the Lorelei Manor neighbourhood on Callie Lane,
Menlo Park. Since the train line connecting to the Dumbarton bridge
passes right behind our neighbourhood, my family and I have a
significant interest in ensuring that the project is chosen, funded
and engineered wisely, for the benefit of both local residents and the
Bay Area community at large.

I should mention I have spoken before at this topic at an earlier
council meeting. I am unable to make the meeting tomorrow due to work
committments, but you should have some of my comments on record
already, even if I repeat them in e-mail ;-)

Firstly, I am a big believer in public transport - the Peninsula does
not have enough of it by far, so any addition I would normally see as
a big improvement. This enthusiasm is somewhat tempered, however, by
the way heavy trains are run and scheduled here. Whereas in other
countries the lines are placed below ground level or above ground
level, to avoid impacting the surounding area traffic, here the more
trains, the more backups - in our case ,on Marsh road, a major entry/
exit on to highway 101.

In addition, it is utterly insane to run a busy train line on the same
level as a busy automobile intersection. There will inevtiably be
accidents. I was living in Chicago the year that a train ploughed into
a school bus carrying 45 children, of whom several were killed and
badly injured . One does not forget that so easily and nor do I want
to see that happen in Menlo Park. I there fore think it's crucial from
the safety aspect, as well as the environmental impact aspect (noise)
that a grade separation be required at Marsh Road.

An alternative and better solution would be to run electric light rail
along these tracks. The noise impact is lower. The safety aspect still
needs to be taken account of, but light rail is somewhat safer just
because the train is, well, lighter. However grade separation would
still be a good idea.

It's a bit unclear also where stations are to be located. It would
make sense to put one close to Marsh Road/Bay Road, as there's a
shopping center there and a large number of businesses, including
Starbucks and a Post Office. That would both improve the business in
that area, but also possibly increase the traffic and parking problems.

Thanks for reading.

Andy Belk

62 Callie Lane,
Menlo Park, CA 94025
Received on Tue May 22 10:41:12 2007