Palo Alto residents have three chances this week to see refined designs for the city's long-planned rail grade separations at Churchill Avenue, Meadow Drive and Charleston Road, and to weigh in on a proposed bike and pedestrian tunnel at El Dorado Avenue.

The city announced three in-person meetings on the projects: two identical sessions on the grade separation project Tuesday, Aug. 25, and Wednesday, Aug. 26, from 6 to 8 p.m. at Mitchell Park Community Center's El Palo Alto Room, and a separate workshop on the El Dorado Avenue crossing Thursday, Aug. 27, from 6 to 7:30 p.m. at Rinconada Library's Embarcadero Room. All three are in-person only.

The grade separation meetings will present 15% design findings for the three crossings the City Council unanimously advanced in December 2025: a hybrid design at Meadow Drive that raises the tracks and lowers the road, an underpass with a direct access ramp at Charleston Road, and a partial underpass at Churchill Avenue that would depress the roadway under the Caltrain tracks and convert the intersection into a T where eastbound drivers could only turn left or right onto Alma Street. Councilmember Keith Reckdahl was recused from the December vote because he lives too close to one of the crossings.

The two-hour format includes a presentation, Q&A and an open-house portion with project displays and comment opportunities.

Community feedback from this week's meetings will go to the Rail Committee and City Council in September, when members will consider whether to advance the designs to 35% and begin environmental documentation. Environmental review must be complete by October 2027 to meet funding deadlines.

The debate over grade-separated crossings has stretched more than a decade, with city leaders winnowing 35 original concepts down to the three now in play. Cost estimates from the December 2025 discussion ranged from roughly $390 million to $480 million for the Meadow hybrid option, $690 million to $850 million for the Charleston underpass, and more than $300 million for the Churchill partial underpass. Updated figures based on the 15% design work are expected at this week's meetings.

El Dorado bike tunnel

Thursday's workshop focuses on a separate project: a bicycle and pedestrian tunnel at El Dorado Avenue that would pass under the Caltrain tracks to Park Boulevard.

The tunnel would fill a 1.3-mile gap in south Palo Alto's bike network between Oregon Expressway and Meadow Drive, where no grade-separated crossing currently exists for cyclists or pedestrians. Consultants from Kittelson & Associates estimated the crossing would generate about 2,600 trips per day.

The city's Rail Committee, then composed of Mayor Ed Lauing and Councilmembers Pat Burt and Julie Lythcott-Haims, narrowed eight options to the El Dorado tunnel in November 2025. "I think there's some people in south Palo Alto who may sleep more soundly now," Burt said after the committee's November 2025 vote.

Thursday's workshop will help refine preferred concept designs before the project returns to Council alongside the broader grade separation review in September.