Anonymous
Source: City of Santa Barbara
Construction of the State Street Railroad Crossing Project, located at State Street just south of Yanonali Street, will begin in early February. The work will increase safety for pedestrians crossing the railroad tracks and includes the installation of swing gates, railings, safer sidewalk approaches, and an advanced railroad alert for the traffic signal. In addition, portions of the Amtrak platform will be removed to prevent walking on the railroad tracks from the train station to State Street. Lash Construction will perform the work, and the project is expected to conclude in May 2019.
State Street will remain accessible for vehicles and pedestrians, though temporary detours may occur to minimize construction duration. Drivers should expect periodic delays in this area during construction. The project is fully funded by the Railway-Highway Crossings (Section 130) Program through the California Public Utilities Commission, which has jurisdiction over railroad crossings in California.
For more information about this project, click here.
You’d think they would have tackled this when the entire area / street was under construction… you know for some 3+ years!
They are removing the ends of the platforms between double track because they at present allow walking right onto the x-walk at State which is in UP ROW and within the exclusion limits of the present signals and new x-ing gates. This will be a lot safer and anyone walking in that area will be trespassing on UP property so like I said below….
I wouldn’t think that because they are 2 completely different projects with completely different funding. But the biggest factor in case you missed it is that the initial design was not working and they’ve made extensive modifications in just the last year brought about by unsafe U-turns and peds ignoring the already in place safety warnings. This won’t stop stupid but it will keep the confused by the double track crossing safer and alleviate potential lawsuits against the City and Union Pacific.
How will this help the trains from not hitting the homeless & others who wander along the tracks about a mile out leading into & out of the SB Amtrak station?
And again…the first comment is by one who didn’t feel the need to read the article. So for the rest of those of such ilk suffice to say that this is about safety improvements at the lower State St. RR x-ing where an overwhelming number of users are not homeless, but rather upstanding locals, tourists and maybe a smattering of business folks taking advantage of our local wines or micro brews during their working lunches.