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Aerial bridge needed
Separate grade may be built at light rail site on busy Hamilton Avenue
By Erin Mayes
New plans for the Hamilton Avenue Light Rail station in Campbell were the main concerns of community members, who showed up for an informational open house hosted by Santa Clara's Valley Transportation Authority at the San Jose Fire Training Center on June 6.
The new designs call for an aerial-grade separation, meaning that the light rail would travel on a bridge-like structure above Hamilton Avenue, rather than intersect it.
The reason for the new design is because the California Public Utilities Commission protested the transportation authority's application for a street-level light rail crossing, said VTA planner Steve Fisher. The agency came up with four alternatives: two aerial grade crossings and two under-crossings that would be dug below Hamilton Avenue.
An aerial grade would cost an additional $12.5 million and would result in at least a five-month delay in the completion of the Hamilton station, scheduled to open in November 2004. The extra cost is not expected to be a problem, because the project is being funded through Measure B, a nine-year half-cent sales tax that expires in 2006.
The new bridge is projected to be between 18 and 37 feet high. A 3-foot sound wall will be constructed on both sides of the bridge and a screen would be built on top of the walls to prevent passengers from looking into private backyards.
If the VTA goes ahead with an undercrossing, rather than the aerial bridge, the delay in the completion of the project could be 18 months and could cost an extra $20 million.
The Vasona Light Rail project is part of the 1996 Measure B transportation improvement program and has been projected to cost $296 million.
The 6.8-mile Vasona extension will connect Campbell with downtown San Jose, ending at the Civic Center station. There are three stations planned for Campbell: on Bascom Avenue, Hamilton Avenue and Orchard City Drive, with a park-and-ride lot in the works on Bascom Avenue. A station on Winchester is also planned as part of Phase II of the Vasona Light Rail project.
Should the aerial bridge become a reality, the impacts to the surrounding neighborhoods are unknown, but have been described as possibly "significant," according to transportation authority documents.
The agency is fighting the utilities commission on its protest of the at-grade crossing. VTA spokesman John Pilger said the agency has requested an expedited hearing before an administrative law judge, who will ultimately make the decision.
"We want to already be moving in this direction if the judge decides to endorse it a year down the line," he said.
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Campbell, California
