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Home My WebLink About04-04-2002 UPRR Trail Task Force agendaCITY OF CUPEkTINO UPRR Trail Task Force Meeting 4 pm April 4, 2002 Agenda Introductions Distribution of Feasibility Study Report Status of project with: �f Le�riT V�c:S i`F ,ves' c` c� `'ui t rvr�c.� Cupertino M�� lS "�'t.�t�` �xctttril�Q X15 hou 0-W6 6W(' `114411 Saratoga Campbell 3��s�►^e Los Gatos VTA r- cl jt e M&Sl �J il(lk eX ale P- County Parks Rails to Trails Conservancy !t2oM !A\S Formation of "Friends" gr oup s� to P direr4-- p,v fz� 6 �c�cc as s Establishment of mail/email list Adjourn-next meeting scheduled for April 2003 City Hall 10300 Torre Avenue Cupertino, CA 95014 -3255 Telephone: (408) 777 -3354 FAX: (408) 777 -3333 Y r lIvt Printed on Recycled Paper City Hall CITY OF DRAFT 10300 Torre Avenue C O P E (�T I N O Cupertino, CA 95014 -3255 (408) 777 -3354 FAX (408) 777 -3333 OFFICE OF THE CITY MANAGER April 4, 2001 M. (City Manager /General Manager, etc.) Los Gatos, Campbell; Saratoga, VTA, County of Santa Clara Cupertino, CA 95014 Subject: Union Pacific Railroad Corridor Trail Dear M.: The Union Pacific Railroad (UPRR) Trail corridor is located along a segment of the UPRR Vasona Branch extending from the Los Gatos Creek Trail near Winchester Boulevard and Highway 85 in the Town of Los Gatos to Rancho San Antonio Park near Foothill Boulevard and Interstate 280 in the City of Cupertino. Portions of the trail also pass through the Cities of Saratoga and Campbell (see attachment `1'). On March 5, 2001, the Cupertino City Council approved a Memorandum of Understanding between the Cities of Campbell and Saratoga, the Town of Los Gatos, the County of Santa Clara, and the Valley Transportation Authority (VTA). This MOU assigned Cupertino as the lead agency for the development of a feasibility study on the proposed UPRR Trail project. Also on March 5, 2001 the Council approved an agreement with ALTA Transportation Consulting to conduct the feasibility study for the proposed proj ect. On March 4, 2002 the Cupertino City Council considered a report from staff and the Cupertino Bicycle Pedestrian Advisory Committee BPAC) on the Final Report of the Feasibility Study completed by ALTA. Given all these facts and the analysis developed for the project as a result of the report, staff and the consultant concluded that: The UPRR Trail as proposed can be adequately designed and constructed over its entire length, but would be more expensive to build than first believed; and, 2. That, once the UPRR liability issues are resolved, trail development would require acquisition of the right -of -way, either as an easement or fee title, from UPRR and this could take a long time and a lot of money. DRAFT Printed on Recycled Paper DRAFT Staff and the BPAC therefore recommended that the Council, while retaining the study and the concept as a worthy future goal, drop the project from the 5 -year CEP and divert the activities and resources that currently support it to other priority projects. The BPAC also requested that the Council approve an annual review of the project by BPAC in the context of the report to evaluate any new opportunities, which might arise for its implementation. The Council approved those recommendations. The City Manager has indicated that the annual monitoring of the project would be assigned to the Parks and Recreation Department as a programmatic responsibility for the trail. Finally the Cupertino City Council directed staff to refer this revised report with its recommendations along with the final Feasibility Study Report to the other partners in the MOU (Cities of Saratoga, Campbell, Town of Los Gatos, VTA, County of Santa Clara) for their consideration and comment prior to taking final action. The City staff requests that any review, comment or other action by your City be provided to us by June 1 so that the Cupertino City Council as lead Agency could consider a final report and recommendation by the end of June 2002. Please call me or Ralph Qualls, Director of Public Works (408- 777 -3354) if you have any questions. Sincerely, David W. Knapp City Manager C: Ralph A. Qualls, Jr., Director of Public Works DRAFT Thursday, April 4, 2002 Re: UPRR trail meeting on 4/4 Subject: Re: UPRR trail meeting on 4/4 Date: Sat, 30 Mar 2002 00:23:15 EST From: AnneN20aol.com To: loizanr&wyrmwood.com Hi Logan- You've already been added. I trust that you've received your UP Trail Feasiblity Report. See you Thursday. Cupertino City Hall is on Torre at Rodrigues, next to the library. That's one block south and east of DeAnza Blvd. and Stevens Creek Blvd. Coming north on DeAnza Blvd., turn right on Rodrigues (2nd light after Bollinger), cross Torre (stop sign) and turn right into the City Hall parking lot. Anne In a message dated 3/29/02 1:29:20 PM Pacific Standard Time, logan @wyrmwood.com writes: Please add me to your mailing list for the UP Trail Task Force. I plan to attend the meeting on Thursday. Can you tell me how to find the meeting place? Page: 1 mailbox: /Opus %20111 /System %20 Folder/ Preferences /Netscape %20 Users /logan/ Thursday, April 4, 2002 RE: Looking for guidance Page: 1 Subject: RE: Looking for guidance Date: Fri, 29 Mar 2002 15:58:26 -0500 From: Amanda Eaken <aeaken(@ transact. org> To: "'logan(@wyrmwood.com" <logan(a)wyrmwood.com> Logan There is a task force in Cupertino that's fornled to address this issue, and a feasibility study for the trail has been completed by Alta Transportation Consulting. I will forward you an email that summarizes where things stand with the trail project. f I will be down in Cupertino for a meeting April 4th, after which I will be able to give you a better update. Amanda Eaken Rails -to- Trails Conservancy 26 O'Farrell Street, Suite 400 San Francisco, CA 94108 (415) 397 2220 www.railtrails.org/ca aeak-en@trwisact.org Original Message---- From: Logan Deimler [mail to: loaanOwyrmwood.com] Sent: Thursday, March 21, 2002 9:15 PM To: rtcofca @transact.org Subject: Looking for guidance Rails -to- Trails folks: I'm currently chairing the Trails Subcommittee of the Saratoga Parks and Recreation Commission. Within Saratoga and our neighboring cities, Union Pacific Rail Road has a little -used section of track that services a local concrete plant. Along this rail corridor is a de facto trail the citizens making use of this linear open space. We'd like to see this turned into an official City trail. Unfortunately, UPRR hasn't been especially cooperative and we're also getting objections from the homeowners who line the corridor. We want to see some progress in our efforts, but we're concerned that any missteps at this time could result in significant set backs. I was wondering if the Rails -to- Trails Conservancy (of which I'm a member) would be able to provide any suggestions or guidance to us. I look forward to hearing from you. Sincerely, Logan Deimler Chairman, Trails Subcommittee mailbox: /Opus %20111 /System %20Folder/ Preferences /Netscape°/ 20Users /logan/ i 1 CITY OF CUPEIDTINO I V 1 City Hall 10300 Torre Avenue Cupertino, CA 95014 -3255 Telephone: (408) 777 -3354 FAX: (408) 777 -3333 DEPARTMENT OF PUBLIC WORKS March 20, 2002 You are invited to a final meeting of the UP Trail Task Force at 4:00 p.m., Thursday, April 4, in the Cupertino City Hall Council Chamber, to consider where to go from here. The UP Trail Task Force, formed last spring to oversee a study of the feasibility of building a trail alongside the Union Pacific Railroad tracks from Cupertino to Los Gatos, completed its work last fall. Our consultants, Alta Transportation Consulting, delivered the final Feasibility Study Report in December. The City of Cupertino, the lead agency, delivered the report to Task Force member agencies in January. Enclosed is the final Cupertino staff report, approved by the. City Council earlier this month. As the Feasibility Study and the staff report make clear, Union Pacific Railroad is firmly opposed to allowing a trail alongside their tracks, at least as long as they own the land. They did indicate a willingness to consider selling the entire right -of -way fora large, but unspecified sum of money, as they did (to VTA for light rail) with the stretch from downtown San Jose to Los Gatos. One suggestion for the immediate future is for each city (Cupertino, Saratoga, Campbell, and Los Gatos) to reserve the corridor for future open space in its General Plan. Another is to investigate the possibility of building a trail on the PG &E corridor that runs alongside the UP right -of -way through most of Saratoga and Los Gatos and all of Campbell. Saratoga has begun pursuing that possibility. The City of Cupertino is transferring oversight of the UP Trail project from Public Works to Parks and Recreation. Therese Smith, Parks and Recreation Director, has some ideas about possibly offering Union Pacific favorable future zoning of some of the land in exchange for allowing a trail now, while the quarry (its only customer) is still operating. For the time being, the Cupertino Bicycle and Pedestrian Advisory Committee has agreed to convene an annual meeting each April to consider the prospects for the trail. Please come to this meeting April 4. It will be the first of those annual meetings, as well as the final Task Force meeting. Thank you, Anne Ng UP Trail Task Force Chair Cupertino Bicycle and Pedestrian Advisory Committee Printed on Recycled Paper CITY OF CUPEkTINO City Hall 10300 Torre Avenue Cupertino, CA 95014 -3255 (408) 777 -3354 FAX (408) 777 -3333 PUBLIC WORKS DEPARTMENT Summary AGENDA ITEM AGENDA DATE March 4 ,2001 SUBJECT AND ISSUE Union Pacific Railroad Trail Corridor Report of action by the Bicycle Pedestrian Advisory Committee (BPAC) on the Trail Feasibility Study (Council Referral to BPAC of October 15, 2001) BACKGROUND The Union Pacific Railroad (UPRR) Trail corridor is located along a segment of the UPRR Vasona Branch extending from the Los Gatos Creek Trail near Winchester Boulevard and Highway 85 in the Town of Los Gatos to Rancho San Antonio Park near Foothill Boulevard and Interstate 280 in the City of Cupertino. Portions of the trail also pass through the Cities of Saratoga and Campbell (see attachment `1'). On March 5, 2001, the Council approved a Memorandum of Understanding between the Cities of Campbell and Saratoga, the Town of Los Gatos, the County of Santa Clara, and the Valley Transportation Authority (VTA). This MOU assigned Cupertino as the lead agency for the development of a feasibility study on the proposed UPRR Trail project. Also on March 5, 2001 the Council approved an agreement with ALTA Transportation Consulting to conduct the feasibility study for the proposed project. On -October 15, 2001 the Council considered a report from 'staff and the Bicycle Pedestrian Advisory Committee on the Final Report of the Feasibility Study completed by ALTA. The consultants, working with staff and a UPRR Task Force composed of representatives of all six parties to the MOU pursued the project with the following general objectives and tasks: Document existing conditions and research background on project history and related items, including the expected future UPRR trail users and their needs. Printed on Recycled Paper Identify constraints to the trail implementation including construction challenges as well as engineering solutions and other relevant information. -Develop alternative alignments and design solutions where constraints may not be overcome and develop appropriate design standards to facilitate the design process. Provide an analysis of the feasibility of implementing the Trail Proposal including issues related to cost and sources of funding, liability, safety, legal agreements, maintenance, cooperative agreements with UP, other necessary agreements, permitting and other items. The consultants had completed all phases of the feasibility study, and a report was presented to the Bicycle Pedestrian Advisory Committee at a special joint meeting with the UPRR Task Force on October 4, 2001. A summary of that reports is as follows Trail Alternatives, Designs and Development Alta Transportation Consulting has developed several alternatives for the design and development of the trail. One of the largest challenges is the continuity of the trail through narrow or restricted crossings. The design solutions provided by Alta present some choices for the Cities in the implementation of the trails. These include existing grade separated crossings at two roadways (Saratoga Avenue, Pollard Road), and eight creek waterways crossings (Regnart, Calabazas, Rodeo, Saratoga, Wildcat, San Tomas Aquino, Smith and E. Smith Creeks). There are also a number of at -grade crossings on city streets, both protected and unprotected. Alta has developed design alternatives to each of these locations and has .provided a cost estimate for these facilities and the mainline trail development. Alta has also provided a series of design standards for pavement, fencing, and other installations for a "Rail with Trail" project. As there are no adopted standards for these types of facilities, Alta suggests that these design proposals represent a "best practices" set of criteria for implementation rather than actual design standards. These are detailed in the consultants report. Alta has estimated that up to 300 persons per day (cyclists and pedestrians) may now be using the UPRR right -of -way (ROW) primarily for recreational walking or cycling. Any current use of this UPRR ROW is, of course, trespassing on the railroads property. This trespassing has largely gone unnoticed or at least un- enforced by the UPRR If the trail, as proposed, were to be completed, Alta estimates that upwards of 500 -1000 persons per day would use the trail for recreation and for commuting, primarily by bicycle. Staff reviewed the study report and advised the Council that the solutions proposed for the trail implementation, from an engineering and construction perspective is workable and, with some adjustments represent practical and constructible approaches. Design and Construction Cost The consultant developed a cost estimate for trail implementation based on their recommended designs that totals approximately Million. Staff has reviewed the cost and believes it to be low. In summary the design and construction management costs, should be increased to $2.0 Million (25% of construction) and a 3 -year escalation factor or approximately $1.25, Million at the time of construction, should also be added. In summary Staff reported 'io the Council, witl the consultant's concurrence, that the appropriate budget number should be approximately $11.5 Million. It was also noted to the Council that there are no land or easement acquisition costs included in any of these figures. UPRR Agreements and Land Acquisition During the Council discussion on October 15, 2001, staff emphasized that The UPRR owns all of the right -of -way and/or property required for the trail in the City' of Cupertino and the majority of the rights -of -way in the other jurisdictions. It was also noted that similar acquisitions for RR rights -of -way (ROW) or easements within an operating rail branch suggest that acquisition costs for the UPRR corridor could be very high. That factor is a major unknown in this project. It was also discussed with the Council that the other unknown is the Railroad itself. UPRR has stated that, as a matter of policy, they do not want pedestrians or cyclists within an operating railroad ROW. However, the UPRR currently has several trails within its right -of -way which were passed on to UP when it acquired these "rails with trails" from the Southern Pacific (SP). Council noted and staff agrees that there is some uncertainty over whether this position is intractable or simply a starting point for any negotiations to acquire an easement or title to the railroad right -of -way. Summary Given all these facts and the analysis developed for the project, staff and the consultant have concluded that: 1. The UPRR Trail as proposed can be adequately designed and constructed over its entire length, but would more expensive to build than first believed; and, 2. That, once the UPRR liability issues are resolved, trail development would require acquisition of the right -of -way, either as an easement or fee title,.from UPRR and this could take a long time and a lot of money. Staff and the BPAC therefore recommended that the Council, while retaining the study and the concept as a worthy future goal, drop the project from the 5 -year C1P and divert the activities and resources that currently support it to other priority projects. The BPAC also requested that the Council approve an annual review of the project by BPAC in the context of the report to evaluate any new opportunities, which might arise for its implementation. The Council approved those recommendations. The City Manager has indicated that the annual monitoring of the project would assigned to the Parks and Recreation Department as a programmatic responsibility for the trail. Also at the October 15, 2001 Council meeting, BPAC member Joe Walton presented the Council with some additional recommendations, which are in the attached document submitted by Mr. Walton to the Council at that. time. Since these recommendations were not consistent with nor approved by the BPAC action the Council directed that staff review the proposals with the BPAC and report back to the Council in the spring with final recommendations before referring the report to the other MOU partner agencies. BPAC Meeting of Januaa 17 2002 Report from BPAC Member Joe Walton Staff and the BPAC at its January 17, 2002 meeting discussed the Council referral of Mr. Walton's recommendations. Consistent with the Councils earlier action as noted above, BPAC did not support any further City staff effort to continue as lead agency for a project that is clearly regional in nature and is at a point where it is beyond the City's current capacity to manage. In the same context, on Staff s recommendation, BPAC took no action on any recommendation for an effort by the City to initiate discussions with PG &E and the Water District to develop portions of the trail (mostly in other cities) within their right -of -way. Additionally,. since., that report was presented to .Council .Mr.. Walton has also acknowledged that the two other items, i.e. further effort on additional studies and discussions with the railroad along with the budgeting of any funds in support of that effort, would not be appropriate at this time. However, staff and the BPAC recommend to the Council that the City incorporate into the General Plan Update a component that would note that the trail area should be reserved for future development as recreational and open and urge the other cities to do the same. The General Plan now identifies the UPRR alignment as a future trail. Regarding recommendations 5 and 6 in Mr. Walton's paper, staff has no recommendation regarding the formation of a "Friends" group to continue the advocacy of the trail development nor the renaming of the trail to the "Permanente Rail Trail If such a group is formed it should be supported by a regional agency such as VTA. BPAC Action In summary, the BPAC met at its regular meeting of January 17 and acted to: 1. Recommend the inclusion of the UPRR Trail as a future Open Space and Trail in the General Plan update; and, 2. Conduct an annual review update of the project at a BPAC meeting in the spring of each year; and, 3. Have BPAC Members encourage a group of "UPRR Trail Friends" and/or an ad hoc UPRR Trail task force among the four cities on the trail alignment to maintain ownership of the project in the future. Lastly, Staff and BPAC would continue to support recommending that the Council refer this revised report with its recommendations along with the final Feasibility Study to the other partners in the MOU (Cities of Saratoga, Campbell, Town of Los Gatos, VTA,: County of Santa Clara) for their consideration and comment prior to taking final action. Staff would expect that following review by the other partners, the Council could consider a final report and recommendation in June 2002. STAFF RECONEWENDATION It is recommended that'the City Council support designating the UPRR Trail as future open space to the General Plan Update and accept the UPRR Trail Feasibility Study Report and refer the report and recommendations to the MOU partners for consideration, review and comment by the City Councils of Campbell and Saratoga, the Town Council of Los Gatos, the VTA Board and the Santa Clara County Board of Supervisors with a report back to Council for final action in the summer of 2002. Submitted by: Approved for submission: Ralph A. Qualls, Jr. her 6 e Ambrosi Smith David W. Knapp Director of Public WorksW Director of Parks and City Manager Recreation Stevens Creek Trail donlo �3 tt�• L�A County F 0 0 t h i I B I V d Interstate Route 280 YV Stevens Creek Blvd i n t)e:Aria Copege h M, c Rd. Cuprtho e 9 D s to e t e t po t 85 A r n R Rainb Dr a p B u i v Pros e ve. d I t Los Gatos Creek Trail 0 Cox Ave. CampbeA Rwodnga R f Union Pacific Railroad ollard Rd Legend Trail`+. g I�nresvenaY f ilege City Town Boundary rr Los Gatos opa Lake Cy Park Union Pacific Railroad Trail Location Map