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Union Pacific's offer to upgrade rail line catches city by surprise

By Shannon Burkey

In a move that surprised city officials, Union Pacific Railroad announced on Feb. 8 that it will upgrade the rail line that runs through Saratoga, and will cover the majority of the costs.

The rail line, which also runs through Campbell, Cupertino and San Jose, has declined through the years, and in the past the city has sought to have parts of it upgraded.

"This is work that has needed to be done. It's been years since they have done any replacements," said Morgan Kessler, assistant city engineer. "They just came in out of the blue and said, 'We need to do this.' "

Although residents have complained in the past about the deteriorating conditions of the railroad crossings in the city, officials' hands have been tied.

"We can't just go in and fix it. A railroad right-of-way is private property," Kessler said. "We have to go through the railroad company and the California Public Utility Commission."

The city worked out an agreement to have the railroad crossing at Cox Avenue upgraded, but that was years ago and the work still has not been done. So city officials were taken aback when railroad officials informed them of their plan to not only upgrade Cox Avenue, but also to upgrade the entire line.

"We knew they were doing Cox, but we hadn't heard from them in a while," Kessler said. "We don't know what the motivation is, but this is potentially a good deal."

The upgrade will include replacing rail and ties along the entire length of the line, beginning in Cupertino and working toward Saratoga. Union Pacific will also upgrade the current crossings by replacing the existing wooden plates with concrete plates. The concrete plates will be permanent and should not have to be replaced again, according to Kessler.

With Union Pacific deciding to do the upgrades, the city will incur only a fraction of what it would have cost to just have Cox Avenue upgraded. The city would have dished out nearly $350,000 for the Cox Avenue upgrade.

"When a city asks for work to be done on a railroad, it's a huge amount of money and could take years," Kessler said. "When this is all said and done, it's going to cost us between $80,000 to $100,000. When compared to the costs of doing upgrades at just one intersection, that amount seems favorable."

Although this is a good opportunity for Saratoga to upgrade its rail line, the work will result in traffic delays and street closures. While the rail and tie work is being done, the streets will be open to traffic as normal. But because of safety issues, Union Pacific officials are requiring the roads to be closed while the crossing upgrades take place. The closures will affect Arroyo de Arguello, Cox Avenue, Saratoga Sunnyvale Road, Quito Road and Glen Brae Drive. Each road will be closed between two and three days.

"We would far rather keep these roads open, but Union Pacific said it is their policy to close the roads while doing this type of work," Kessler said, adding that no two roads will be closed at the same time.

The city will post road closures and traffic detours on its website at www.saratoga.ca.us.