Thanks to all those who came out for our meeting under the stars and before an apropos backdrop.
We
kicked off the meeting with the election of the 2013 NWGNA board. We
have seen participation increase over the past few years and as a
result, previous to the elections, the Board made some changes to the
bylaws that slightly increased the size of the board. Our prior position
known as Secretary/Treasurer changed to two individual positions and
the Board Member positions increased from five to six. Taken together,
this creates a total of eleven seats. This will do nicely should an
inter-neighborhood association soccer league magically materialize. So
without further ado, here is your current lineup.
President: Harvey Darnell
Vice President: Bill Rankin
Treasurer: Sheila Hunter
Secretary: Mary Pizzo
Past President: Chris Davis
Board Members (6): Alison England, Dan Erceg, Lila Kakuk, Barbara Keegan, Mark Lloyd, Vacant
We've worked with Vacant for a couple of years not long ago and s/he
rarely showed up to meetings or really did anything tangible, so if you
have an interest in replacing Vacant, we have an interest in having you
do so. This is a chance to work with some good people doing some good
things so contact us at
board@nwgna.org
to learn more. There will also be opportunities to participate on
individual projects such as the Garage Sale, Party in the Park,
Beautification Days, or Holiday Decoration Contest/Party outside of
formal board membership.
After the elections we moved quickly to our guest speaker Marian
Lee, Caltrain Modernization Program Executive Officer. Ms. Lee answered
many of our questions and was able to elaborate on many of the details
of Caltrain's move to electric trains and their compatibility with High
Speed Rail (HSR). Here are a few bullet points from Ms. Lee.
- Caltrain and HSR plan to share tracks
from SF to Diridon Station where HSR tracks will diverge and reconnect
at Tamien Station, however electrification will be implemented all the
way to Tamien. Ms. Lee will get back to us with how Caltrain will
operate with respect to trains operating south of Tamien to Morgan Hill
and Gilroy. These trains must use diesel so the concept is to use diesel
trains as a shuttle to a station, then transfer to electric service.
Which station is the question.
- Without the addition of passing tracks (none of which are being
considered in North Willow Glen) they expect to reach a maximum of six
Caltrain trains and two HSR trains per hour during peak times.
Additional passing tracks could increase HSR by two more trains per hour
while maintaining the 6 Caltrain trains.
- Implementation will begin with an upgraded train signaling system
which will allow for more efficient coordination of trains in the system
-
UPRR will continue to operate on the tracks and will continue to do so
with diesel-fueled trains, as will Amtrak. The time window that UPRR
will be allowed to operate will continue to be 12-5am, however mid-day
and evening UPRR access will be halted.
- The total investment to Caltrain Modernization is $1.5B with $705M
coming from HSR funds. Those funds are solely for Caltrain Modernization
(thought the signaling will be shared) and not for use to create a
four-track system.
- The new signal system will be completed in 2015. The completed
electrification system is scheduled to be up and running in 2019. The
addition of HSR is scheduled for completion in 2029
- The first 1-2
years will consist of environmental review and design. Ms. Lee vowed
that Caltrain will conduct more public hearings than required by law,
including venues in San Jose. Participants including NWGNA officers
requested prior access to the designs in order to work with Caltrain to
produce the best initial document possible.
- Years 3-4 are for construction. The work hours will be determined in
the environmental reports above, so we should have some advance notice.
The work will be done in stages so our area will be affected for only a
portion of that period. To clarify something said at a previous meeting,
the pole spacing for the catenary wires will be 150' or more. Ms. Lee
will get back to us with a better idea of that. No track or tie
improvements are planned for our section.
- While the new rolling stock will be lighter and able to accelerate
faster, the top speed of 79 MPH will not change, though it should be
noted that the slow speeds through our neighborhood will also not
increase either as they must slow down for the sharp turns and station
approach.
There were a few questions, some listed above, that Ms. Lee
will answer for us after doing a bit of research. I will communicate
those in the coming days.
So that's it in a (rather large) nutshell.
Update: Some
funds for the Caltrain Modernization were recently released.
