San Bruno B.A.R.T.

  BURLINGAME--The gate downtime at Burlingame’s two Caltrain stations stalls traffic for more than an hour each day, but the Burlingame City Council is adamant that the Broadway station not be closed in an effort to relieve traffic woes.

  “I think it’s very important to keep the two stations ... I’d be troubled to see something like this occur,” said Councilmember Mike Coffey last night during a joint meeting with the Transit Authority.

  The two bodies met to study long-range Caltrain and highway projects that will affect Burlingame. While the only project about to proceed is the addition of auxiliary lanes on Highway 101, the council saved its most direct comments and concerns for the possible changes in store for the Broadway and Burlingame Avenue train stations.

  The council recommended that transit officials instead look at staggering the platforms, a project that will take about 20 months and cost $5 million. The move will reduce the gate downtime by 50 percent and make the platforms more pedestrian-friendly.

  Because of the short distance between crossing roads over the train tracks, the gates remain down at both locations until a Caltrain has pulled out of the station. The gate is down a total of 63 minutes during the six-hour peak time at Broadway and 79 minutes at Burlingame Avenue.

  SamTrans Chief Development Officer Howard Goode suggested closing the Broadway station but the council unanimously rejected the idea.

  Councilmember Joe Galligan said removal would by contrary to the overall goal of having high-density housing near train stations. Councilmember Cathy Baylock agreed that losing one station will have an impact on commuters.

  “We’re working very hard to get people out of their cars,” she said.

  But City Manager Jim Nantell reminded the group that gate closures affect thousands of drivers while only about 400 people get on and off the Broadway Caltrain.

  The best option, said senior engineer Darrell Maxey, is to raise the train tracks and lower the road as San Carlos has done. However, that construction would take at least five years and will need lot of money, Maxey said.

  Mayor Mary Janney raised concern, though, that a grade separation might further affect the aesthetics of the Broadway entrance into the city.

  Goode and Maxey agreed to return to the council in roughly nine months with further information on the plan and details on how the new Millbrae BART station might further affect traffic patterns in the area.

  The traffic back up attributed to the Caltrain station also affects the Broadway interchange off Highway 101. Goode said there are preliminary designs to reconfigure the off- and on-ramps but that the $37 million needed for construction has yet to be identified. One idea is to include the project in the renewal of Measure A, the half-cent sales tax earmarked for transportation projects.

Michelle Durand can be reached by e-mail: michelle@smdailyjournal.com or by phone: (650) 344-5200 ext. 104.