“Both of these projects are excellent examples of how Measure A funds can be leveraged to attract additional funding,” said TA Board Chair Mark Church. “The leveraged funding also is an excellent demonstration of the benefits of having a self-help measure in place.” The TA was able to triple the initial $2.6 million investment through supplemental funds. The total cost of the Hillsdale station improvements is $6.5 million. In addition to the Measure A funds approved by the TA board yesterday, an additional $4.3 million in federal funds have been committed to the project. The total cost of $980,000 for the environmental studies will be augmented with $480,000 in federal funds.

Construction at the Hillsdale station, one of six Baby Bullet stops, is slated to begin next spring. Plans call for the northbound platform to be moved 300 feet north of its current location. The existing Bay Meadows station, which has limited service, will be permanently closed.

The upgraded station will offer improved safety with outside boarding platforms; improved passenger access and a new parking lot on the east side of the station; new public address and visual message systems; mini-high platforms for passengers with disabilities and two signalized grade crossings. The tracks in the station also will be rehabilitated.

The outside boarding platform means that riders will board trains from either side of the track, instead of boarding northbound trains from a center platform. This safer configuration also allows for improved train operations. Currently, when trains coming from opposite directions approach the Hillsdale station, one train holds back until the other has left the station, because of concern that pedestrians might walk in front of a train.

South San Francisco and Linden Ave.

The environmental studies for the South San Francisco station and the grade separation at Linden Avenue are preliminary steps in a project to relocate and upgrade the existing station. Improvements under consideration include adding outside boarding platforms, two more main tracks, a new grade-separated pedestrian crossing at Scott Street and the closure of Scott Street at the railroad tracks. The proposed improvements were developed with input from South San Francisco city staff.

The Transportation Authority administers San Mateo County’s Measure A half-cent sales tax, which voters approved in 1988, a local source of funding for transportation projects. Over the life of the measure, the county will spend more than $2 billion on county transportation improvements.