April 7, 2006

Feinstein secures funds for Blossom Hill rail crossing

Interim project will provide much-needed safety measure

Senator Dianne Feinstein announced March 20 that San Jose will receive $2 million in federal funds for safety improvements at the Union Pacific rail crossing at Blossom Hill Road and Monterey Highway in South San Jose.

“This is wonderful news for our community, and I thank Senator Feinstein for her leadership on behalf of our people,” said Mayor Ron Gonzales. “Her efforts to secure federal funding will help us move forward with a critically-needed project that will help protect San Jose residents and children in this neighborhood.”

Although the over crossing was included in the regional transportation plan for Santa Clara County, the tragic death of toddler Alexander Arriaga last November called immediate attention to the need for a solution for pedestrian and bicycle safety at this location.

“I’m ecstatic about this,” said District 2 City Council member Forrest Williams. “This gives us a chance to show the community that we’re moving, that we’re concerned about this.”

According to Williams, this funding windfall was the result of another higher-priority program falling through.

“We were able to get this because one of [Feinstein’s] programs that she had funded didn’t measure up to the standards, and that money became available,” said Williams.

“[Feinstein] knew [about this] because we had been to her and talked to about the problem here. This was something that she was interested in. The money became available and she brought it to us.”

The city estimates that a permanent solution involving a bridge over both Monterey Highway and the Union Pacific tracks will cost approximately $7 million. An interim project to install an at-grade pedestrian crossing with fencing, gates and warning signals is estimated to cost about $1 million.

Federal funds will enable San Jose to move ahead with the interim project as well as the preliminary work and design needed for a permanent solution. Williams estimates that work on the interim project could start as early as August. His stated goal is to have the project completed by the end of this year.