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CPUC says aerial bridge is needed for future station
By Erin Mayes
New plans for the Hamilton Avenue light rail station just west of Willow Glen were the main concern 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 light rail would travel on a bridge-like structure above Hamilton Avenue rather than intersect with it.
The reason for the new design is that 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 of the completion of the Hamilton station, which is 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 between 18 and 37 feet high. A three-foot sound wall would 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 under-crossing rather than the aerial bridge, the delay on the completion of the project could be 18 months and would 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 through Willow Glen, ending at the Civic Center station. There are three stations planned for 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 and will will learn at an upcoming hearing if the aerial grade will be necessary.
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Willow Glen, California Since 1992
