PALO ALTO — The Palo Alto City Council on Dec. 10 paused a decision on whether to advance specific Caltrain grade-separation designs to 15% engineering, instead voting unanimously to continue the item to allow staff to provide additional technical analysis and updated cost estimates.

City staff opened the special meeting with a presentation of alternatives at the Churchill, Meadow and Charleston crossings. Rippan Bhatia, senior engineer in the Office of Transportation, said the project is led by Caltrain but advanced in collaboration with city staff and consultants and is moving into preliminary engineering and environmental documentation ahead of 15% design. "We are at the end of Q4 this year and really in early next year, starting the 15% design phase," said Jill Gibson, a Caltrain presenter, summarizing the schedule for design and environmental work.

Staff and Caltrain outlined trade-offs among hybrid (raising tracks, modest roadway changes), underpass (roadway depressed below tracks) and other variants, emphasizing differences in operations, property impacts and construction complexity. Edgar Torres, a project manager, cited potential acquisitions and dwelling-unit impacts in several options and said staff had reduced impacts in recent refinements: "With the landscape strip, [Churchill] allows for 17 parcels being effective or 29 dwelling units; without the landscape strip those impacts are further reduced," Torres said.

Members of the public offered sustained, often emotional testimony. Some residents and neighborhood groups urged the hybrid option as the most economical and least invasive, citing fewer property takings and shorter construction; others — including safety advocates and people who cited recent train-related deaths — urged more permanent grade separation at the most heavily used pedestrian crossings. "I don't feel protected at all by the city so far," said John Melenchuk, a resident describing construction noise and neighborhood impacts. Linda H., speaking about youth suicides on the tracks, said, "The train is the most common method used to die by suicide by our young people." Several speakers asked for clearer information on eminent-domain procedures and timing for property impacts.

The chair of the rail committee (identified in the record by role) said engineering refinements had reduced impacts and highlighted new safety technologies the city and Caltrain are deploying, including Rail Sentry and intrusion mats, describing them as "a combination of multiple video cameras and lidar technology with AI" intended to detect intrusions and improve safety during the near term while engineering studies continue.

Council members pressed staff on three technical areas before a decision: (1) updated, market-informed cost estimates that reflect current construction conditions and electrified-rail clearances; (2) representative travel-time comparisons for vehicles, pedestrians and bicyclists that capture circuitous movements created by some underpass options; and (3) clearer information about property-acquisition timing and legal constraints tied to federal and state funding. Staff committed to provide travel-time comparisons and additional constructability detail in advance of the next meeting.

Rather than pick a preferred alternative at this session, the council made a procedural motion to continue the agenda item to allow staff time to bring the requested analyses back to the full council. The motion to continue carried unanimously. Mayor Lalling announced the vote result; recorded yes votes included Council member Liu, Vice Mayor Venker, Council member Burt, Council member Lythcott Haines and Council member Stone.

The council’s continuation keeps multiple alternatives under consideration and requires staff to supply the more precise cost, travel-time and constructability information that council members and members of the public said they need to weigh safety, neighborhood impacts and affordability.

The council is expected to reconvene on the item at its next scheduled meeting, when staff will present the additional data requested.