Hon. Mayor and council members, et al:

Was application made for funding for the grade crossings in Menlo Park (see attached) or is there another two year delay after decades of procrastination and neglect? The state and federal government are in charge of these.

Yesterday, once again, I had to stop on the train tracks when a car in front of me turning right had to make an abrupt stop to allow a pedestrian to saunter across Alma at the corner of Ravenswood.

There is no way to foresee this. All the flashing lights and red flags to cross Ravenswood do not address this problem. Recently the guard arms came down on to a car causing damage while a baby bullet whizzed by on the other track. I believe the auto owner filed a claim with Caltrain.

Earlier, all of the guard arms at every crossing in Menlo Park were stuck in the down position necessitating police and sheriffs to man the railroad crossings with emergency vehicles and others held up. We had to go to Palo Alto to cross the tracks.

It is hair-raising to contemplate the near misses at Ravenswood/Alma due to the large number of pedestrians stepping off the curb in front of vehicles and stopping them on the rails as the ever-increasing trains, including express baby bullets, thunder through the crossings at 79 mph.

Then there is the danger of bicycles and vehicles ignoring the no- leftturn  sign at Ravenswood/Alma during peak hours causing abrupt stops. Many people refuse to turn right when their destination is straight ahead or to the left. A cacophony of car horns are added to the lethal train horn blasts.

Residents who signed our petition stated that they unlock their car doors and seat belts to be ready to abandon their cars on the tracks. That is, if they are not frozen as "deer in headlights" which has also occurred.

The state is going to have to take matters into its own hands soon because of the failure of this city to face up to its responsibilities. There will be no choices then. Former city officials have turned down millions of dollars without stakeholder input. Serious mitigation measures must be considered from the start. The fact is that the engineers will blast our brains out until they achieve electrification and grade separations for which they have lobbied for decades.

If we can get rid of the railroad, that's fine. If not, should we continue to ignore its existence and hazards?

This should be priority number one on any project list, including Grand Boulevard plans. Conversely, spending thousands of dollars to study an area for a railroad bicycle underpass until it is known where the catenaries for the electrification will be placed is foolhardy, wasteful and strictly political to appease supporters of certain council members.

The former council unequivocally rejected the study of another bicycle underpass until and unless it is included with vehicle grade separations,

The previous proposed bicycle underpass location was rejected by most Linfield Oaks residents and leaseholders of the Stanford lands.

It does not belong on the project priority list for the coming year despite constant pushing by a few, but not all, bicyclists. I agree with many that bicycle activists should stay on the bicycle commission and not become transportation commissioners. When are we going to have a motorist and pedestrian commission not plagued by anti-motorists?

Have we allowed another two years of funding to go elsewhere knowing that Ravenswood rail crossing was on a state priority list for decades? Do all officials read the Rail Division of the state Public Utilities Commission letter relating to all development projects in Menlo Park?

With or without high speed rail, complete grade separations of the Caltrain tracks has always been a goal of transportation officials and is included in all plans. A portion of Measure A sales tax is ongoing for that purpose, sooner or later.

This is a health and safety issue not for vote by the general public. If opponents of safety measures at the railroad crossings were obliged to play Russian Roulette every time they ventured out, perhaps they would change their minds.

Should we join those who traverse Middlefield to other cities to avoid crossing the tracks to downtown Menlo Park?

There was a small city that looked like a shoe. It had so many trains it didn't know what to do...

Margaret Petitjean, Menlo Park

attached mail follows:

http://www.cpuc.ca.gov/PUC/hottopics/4railsafety/071707_Sec190_GradeSep.htm Received on Thu Nov 15 13:28:12 2007