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Two major roadway projects in Mountain View are facing insurmountable costs, prompting the city to scale back and stagger its implementation of long-anticipated intersection improvements at two key railway crossings.
Until recently, the city was on track to fund two infrastructure projects that would improve road safety and reduce traffic congestion at two Caltrain crossings – one at the end of Castro Street, by the transit center, and the other at the intersection of Rengstorff Avenue and Central Expressway.
But in September, the city learned that the cost for the Castro Street project had doubled from $136 million to $271 million, which it attributed to an increase in construction costs and an initial low-ball estimate. Since then, the city also has revised its estimate for the Rengstorff Avenue project, from $262 million to $325 million. The higher price tags mean it is no longer feasible to fund both projects at the same time.
“The city currently does not have the resources for the combined $190 million shortfall,” said Joy Houghton, city senior civil engineer, in a presentation to the City Council on Tuesday, Jan. 23.
Instead, staff have proposed that the city pool the funding for both projects and prioritize the grade separation at Rengstorff Avenue. They also recommended that the council reduce the scope of the Castro Street project to focus primarily on a bike and pedestrian undercrossing that links Moffett Boulevard to Castro Street under the tracks.
City Council members unanimously supported the recommendations, with several council members framing the prioritization of Rengstorff Avenue as an equity issue.
“The data shows that Rengstorff is the more dangerous crossing,” said Council member Alison Hicks, noting that the intersection had a higher number of pedestrian and bicycle collisions and fatalities than at Castro Street.
The vehicle volume at the Rengstorff Avenue intersection also was about six times higher, according to the council report, and experiences massive vehicle congestion when the crossing gates are down to let trains pass. Caltrain’s electrification project, which will add more trains to the tracks and increase frequency of service, will only make it worse, a point that Council member Ellen Kamei raised when expressing her preference to prioritize the grade separation at Rengstorff Avenue.
“I’m not sure if my colleagues have been in the position, but if you are there during the peak hour where (the gates) are down, you could be there for 30 minutes, and that’s not an exaggeration,” she said.
The proposed grade separation at Rengstorff will keep the tracks at their existing level, but will create an underpass for vehicles, Houghton said. A bicycle and pedestrian bridge also will be built across Rengstorff Avenue that will connect Cristano Avenue and Leland Avenue. Cristano Avenue will end in a cul-de-sac, while Leland Avenue’s connection to Rengstorff will be pushed further south, according to the council report.
The bulk of the funding for the project largely comes from VTA’s Measure B sales tax. The city plans to allocate the remaining $77 million from Measure B to close the funding gap to $31 million, which will make the project more competitive for other grant opportunities too, Houghton said.
The trade-off is that diverting the funds to the Rengstorff Avenue project will create a shortfall of $184 million for the Castro Street project, making it highly unlikely that it will get off the ground anytime soon.
With a longer-than-expected wait expected for Castro Street’s transit center improvements, some changes can be made in the interim. The city can permanently close Castro Street to vehicle traffic at the tracks while still allowing bicyclists and pedestrians to cross. This will improve access across Central Expressway while also reducing vehicle conflicts, Houghton said.
The city also plans to scale back the project by focusing primarily on the bicycle and pedestrian undercrossing. The other project elements would be phased in depending on funding availability, which include a new vehicle ramp from W. Evelyn Avenue to Shoreline Boulevard and a shared use path, as well as a spot for designated pick-up along Moffett Boulevard.
Robert Cox, speaking on behalf of Livable Mountain View, urged the City Council to not drop these features in its long-term planning for Castro Street, citing the need to make the downtown area more accessible.
“If we make arriving to and departing from our downtown an increasingly difficult, unsafe and unpleasant experience, our downtown businesses will suffer,” Cox said, adding that the public should be given more time to weigh in on the changes that the council was considering that evening.
While the council members expressed a preference for both projects to move forward, they also took a pragmatic approach to the funding shortfall, with Hicks stating that the Castro Street delay could actually benefit the pedestrian mall, which still was struggling with storefront vacancies.
“I think that at this point in time, like over the next year or so, the last thing we need to turn it around is a huge construction project and a big hole in the ground,” she said.
Construction for the Rengstorff Avenue grade separation is expected to begin in 2026, with an anticipated completion date in 2028. The city also will move forward with its design plans for the Castro Street grade separation, but will not proceed with construction until it secures more funding, according to the council report.
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Very well written article. Thank you.
Obviously, massively extending the timeline for Castro simply kills off more downtown businesses. One quick and probably vital fix that would immediately generate more customer volume is this:
Reopen left turns from Castro onto northbound Central Expressway. There is no reason, given this news, to continue to suppress that highly necessary traffic flow. And if and when the actual construction starts in 2026 it will only take about a day to re-close it… restoring the traffic flow to the way it is now. Meantime, the City saves some of the most-fragile Castro businesses that will otherwise die.
It was always nonsensical to kill that left turn option for folks leaving downtown or coming up Evelyn. All that did was turn off north Mountain View residents, like our family, making us far more likely to use the nicer downtown Los Altos amenities… for example for family dinners or entertaining out of town guests or even holiday shopping, given that Los Altos hasn’t foolishly killed off their various dry-goods businesses like MV did downtown. Mark my words, Castro’s two bookstores are next.
Without restoring easier access for more customers, Castro’s poor businesses will continue to gradually die off. It never made sense to kill the left turn from Castro onto Central Expressway northbound – YEARS before the construction required it.
No left turn from Castro to Central is killing businesses in Downtown MV… you’re going to have to do some serious work to defend that ludicrous claim. Forget the evidence, which you surely don’t have. What even is your theory for how that is even supposed to work? How is that left turn so critical to businesses on Castro?
The plans for these grade crossings have been around for nearly a decade. Why did it take so long to even get to this point where we find out the costs are now way higher?
Not sure but sounds like a consulting company got overpaid for poor work again. It is very disappointing to see the Castro street underpass delayed again and this time seemingly indefinitely. A lot of residents are looking forward to it. I think it is poor judgement from the council to not prioritize our downtown development which is already way overdue.
oops! However I thing bookstores are less vulnerable than other businesses as people are walking around the Castro Mall and bookstores, especially if they feature food and drink are likely to be browsed. OTOH all the other businesses have been devasted by the clutter of the parklets and less convenient parking. Two of my favorites, TAP plastics and the locksmith were driven out even before the pandemic. So I either shop elsewhere (downtown Los Altos as noted above is becoming more attractive even with its non-existent cell service (just what you expect in a high end Silicon Valley ‘burg? NOT!) and increasingly limited parking, or use Amazon.