But the benefits of a modernized train system will outweigh any negatives, said Jayme Ackemann, a spokeswoman for the San Mateo County Transit District, which oversees and manages Caltrain.
"We believe that for the future of Caltrain, that electrification is the only path forward that's sustainable," Ackemann told The Daily News on Thursday.
A modern electrified rail system would enable Caltrain to add trains and increase ridership, which should result in fewer cars on the road and better air quality. Plus, she added, an electrified system would be cheaper to operate than one that runs on diesel fuel.
Ackemann said daily ridership is expected to climb from the current 55,000 to 69,000 the first year the system is electrified, hopefully in 2019.
Casey Fromson, a government affairs officer for the Caltrain Modernization Program, underscored that the local project is separate from California's controversial high-speed rail project.
"This is an important point, so everyone's clear," Fromson said. "The project we're going to be environmentally clearing is just our electrification project. High-speed rail will have to come back later to clear their blended system."
Fromson was referring to a revised plan by state officials to have bullet trains share the existing tracks within the Caltrain corridor between San Jose and San Francisco. Although the so-called blended rail approach was intended to placate Peninsula residents and officials who feared that installation of additional tracks would lead to the seizure of private property, critics of high-speed rail still abound.
Regardless, half of the $1.5 billion needed for the Caltrain electrification project will come from state funds that voters approved for high-speed rail because bullet trains require electrified tracks.
Even without high speed rail in the picture, Caltrain officials expect some public push-back against the electrification plan.
To electrify the 51-mile stretch of tracks, Caltrain will need to install poles at least 30 feet high with overhead wires alongside them. Caltrain also will need to build two substations -- one in South San Francisco and the other in San Jose -- as well as several smaller stations along the line.
As many as 2,200 trees along the route will need to be removed and 3,600 pruned to make way for the poles, according to Caltrain. No trees can be planted or structures built within 10 feet of the electrical poles, for safety reasons.
Caltrain might need to acquire a total of about 20 acres for the project, including the substations. About $9 million has been budgeted for that, Ackemann said.
Because many train riders will drive to and from Caltrain stations, traffic impacts are expected, according to the report. While road and intersection improvements can reduce some of the traffic congestion, nine intersections will be unavoidably impacted -- several of them in Menlo Park, Palo Alto and Mountain View.
The public will be able to review and submit written comments about the draft report through April 29. Caltrain also will hold four public meetings in March and April to collect comments. A final draft report is slated to be finished by the end of the year.
About 20 percent of the project's $1.5 billion estimated cost remains unfunded, although grants and other fiscal sources have been identified, said Marian Lee, executive officer for the Caltrain Modernization Project.
Asked if there's any danger of Caltrain not receiving the state money if the high-speed rail project is killed in the courts, Lee offered a pragmatic response.
"We have to hurry up and spend the money, because if they disappear, they disappear with the money," she said. "Then we are half short."
Email Bonnie Eslinger at beslinger@dailynewsgroup.com; follow her at twitter.com/bonnieeslinger.
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(c)2014 the Palo Alto Daily News (Menlo Park, Calif.)
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