REPORT TO BICYCLE AND PEDESTRIAN ADVISORY COMMITTEE
SUBJECT
Title
VTA’s BART Silicon Valley Phase II Santa Clara Station Bike and Pedestrian Plan (VTA BART Silicon Valley)
Report
BACKGROUND
VTA’s BART Silicon Valley Phase II Extension (BSVII Project) is a six-mile, four-station extension of BART from Berryessa/North San José Station (opened 2020) through downtown San José to the City of Santa Clara. The BSVII Project is planned to include an approximately five-mile subway, three stations with underground platforms (28th Street/Little Portugal, Downtown San José, and Diridon), one ground-level station (Santa Clara), a train maintenance and storage facility, and additional facilities. Access and circulation facilities for each station are described in further detail below. Over the past several months, VTA’s BART Silicon Valley (BSV) External Affairs Team has been coordinating with VTA Planning staff in close collaboration with the City of Santa Clara to advance access and circulation design concepts for the future Santa Clara BART station.
The station concept was initially developed following existing City and VTA guidance, including City of Santa Clara’s Public Works Standard Specifications for Public Works Construction, City of Santa Clara’s Standard Details (dated 2015), and planning principles from other relevant approved plans and standards.
In addition to incorporating these formal standards, VTA’s BSV External Affairs Team prioritized station access modes consistent with VTA’s Station Access Hierarchy (adopted 2018) and BART’s Station Access Hierarchy. Station concepts prioritize pedestrian access and circulation, with a secondary emphasis on providing access for bicyclists. At all stations, transit access is accommodated with the goal of having bus and paratransit services complement this new rail service.
VTA’s BSV and VTA Staff participated in four series of biweekly technical meetings, one for each of the stations. The goal of these meetings was to establish a shared understanding of the basis of design for each station, access and circulation features, and each city’s vision for their respective station areas. This access and circulation coordination effort is being documented in Basis of City Facility Design memos, which will be included as part of the respective Contract Package documents. These documents define what the Project will be asking of contractors. Designs may be modified and will be finalized by the contractors selected for the BSVII Project in coordination with VTA and the Cities of San Jose and Santa Clara, as applicable.
Initial Review
VTA’s BSV Staff worked closely with City of Santa Clara to present options based on initial review. The exhibits shown in this meeting are the result of that coordination.
BSVII presented to City of Santa Clara BPAC in October 2021 to provide project background and pedestrian and bicycle circulation plans and in August 2024 to provide project updates and station configuration and access planning.
DISCUSSION
• The Project will widen the ramp to Brokaw Road from the existing pedestrian undercrossing that serves the Santa Clara Caltrain Station and Santa Clara VTA Transit Center.
• In conjunction with the adjacent Gateway Crossings developer, the Project will construct a new roadway called Champions Way to provide access to the BART Station entrance and surface parking lot from Brokaw Road. This roadway would include a travel lane in each direction, a sidewalk-level two-way Class IV Bikeway, and ADA passenger loading zones along the west side of the street. Streetscaping, including pedestrian-scale lighting, will be provided along the west side of the street. It is assumed that the east side streetscape will be installed by others.
• A two-way Class IV Bikeway will be provided from the pedestrian undercrossing ramp at the end of Brokaw Road to Champions Way and along the site frontage on Champions Way to Wondo Way. Visually distinct hardscaping is proposed to denote mixing zone locations where pedestrian and bicyclist movements cross paths.
• The future intersection of Brokaw Road and Champions Way will include high-visibility crosswalks as well as green skip-striping to denote bicycle lane conflict zones. Further intersection improvements include directional curb ramps and bike ramps to meet ADA requirements.
• Continental crosswalks will be provided across Champions Way in addition to directional ADA curb ramps.
• The future intersection of Champions Way and the station parking lot entrance will provide an all-way stop controlled intersection with crosswalks with ADA curb ramps.
• The future intersection of Champions Way and Wondo Way will operate under all-way stop control to provide traffic calming. Crosswalks and bulbouts will be provided on the west and south legs of the intersection.
• Along the west side of Champions Way, 280 ft of curb space will be provided to facilitate station pick up and drop off. 100 ft of the pickup and drop off curb space will be reserved for ADA.
A presentation will be given by VTA BSV staff and will provide BPAC an opportunity to review and comment on exhibits.
Staff
Written by: Kali Futnani, VTA’s BART Silicon Valley Program
Reviewed by: Carol Shariat, Transportation Manager, Public Works
Approved by: Michael Liw, Assistant Director/City Engineer, Public Works