San Bruno B.A.R.T.

  It’s very premature for the Council to support relocation of our train station to an already heavily trafficked roadway. A change like that would leave an indelible mark on our community and likely go far to change San Bruno’s character. As such, it calls for serious consideration by the largest possible number of citizens.

  There has been no such process I understand the matter has not been addressed by our Planning Commission, nor have any public hearings been held that I’m aware of.

  The Peninsula Corridor Joint Powers Board, which runs Caltrain, has approved no change of station. The board has endorsed return of the station to Sylvan Avenue on completion of BART. Work there is already underway on new platforms and other facilities. The San Mateo County Transportation Authority has committed $60 million toward grade separation of trains and cars at San Bruno and San Mateo Avenues. That funding commitment does not include station relocation.

  If a citizens committee is formed, it should be to consider all the possible impacts -- and there will be many -- of grade separation alone. If you expect members to deal also with relocating the train station, after you’ve already approved the idea, then you’d be putting the horse after the cart. That doesn’t make much sense.

  Remember what happened at the July town meeting on grade separation. Citizen after citizen warned against plopping a station, with all its additional traffic, right in the midst of a heavy-traffic area surrounded by homes.