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The City of Fremont invites you to join City staff and partnering agencies to celebrate the ground breaking of the Washington Boulevard/Paseo Padre Parkway Grade Separation Project. The ground breaking will be held on Thursday, May 3, 2007 from 1:30 p.m. to 3:30 p.m. at 3560 Washington Boulevard near Osgood Road (at the old storage facility between the railroad tracks).
The ground breaking marks the start of major construction for the largest public works project in the City's history. Speakers will include City of Fremont Mayor, Bob Wasserman, City Manager, Fred Diaz, Supervisor, Scott Haggerty of the Alameda County Board of Supervisors and BART Director, Tom Blalock, in
addition to City staff. Attendees will join speakers and members of the project team in breaking ground to signify the start of major construction activities. A reception with refreshments will immediately follow the ceremony.
Project Background
After over ten years of planning and design, extensive fundraising efforts, dozens of agreements with private and public agencies, environmental studies, extensive public input, and initial site preparation activities, the start of the main construction contract is a major milestone for the Grade Separation Project.
The project will build an overpass at Washington Boulevard between Bruce Drive and Roberts Avenue, and an underpass at Paseo Padre Parkway between Shadowbrooke Common Road and Hancock Drive in order to separate vehicle and pedestrian traffic from railroad traffic and crossings. It will also relocate nearly one-and-a-half miles of active Union Pacific railroad tracks east requiring complex construction staging.
The Grade Separation Project will:
- Improve safety for pedestrians and bicyclists by removing the street and railroad track intersections at both roads;
- Decrease traffic delays and backups by removing the street and railroad track intersections;
- Reduce noise by eliminating the need for trains to sound their horns when approaching and crossing Washington Boulevard and Paseo Padre Parkway; and
- Allow the future Bay Area Rapid Transit (BART) extension to Warm Springs in south Fremont to be constructed at ground level, thereby eliminating costly bridges and minimizing community impacts.
Having overcome major hurdles over the last several years including securing $68 million of outside grants to build this $111 million project, the City is excited to move forward with major construction beginning spring 2007. The $48 million main construction contract was awarded to the joint-venture of DeSilva Gates / R&L Brosamer. Over the next few years, residents will see major changes unfolding on Washington Boulevard and Paseo Padre Parkway as construction activities move toward completion in late-2010. Funding for this project comes from the City of Fremont and the Fremont Redevelopment Agency, Alameda County Measure B half cent sales tax funds, the State of California's State Transportation Improvement Program (STIP), the Congestion Management Agency (CMA), Regional Measure 2 (toll bridge), and the State Grade Separation Grant program.
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