After a series of public outreach meetings, the Mountain View and Sunnyvale City Councils selected the eastern option. It is the preferred alternative for the environmental clearance phase. The environmental clearance phase refers to the documentation review process for CEQA* clearance. For the preliminary conceptual designs that were presented in December 2020, see Documents.

*California Environmental Quality Act (CEQA)

In August 2024, City Council approved the Caltrain service agreement for environmental documentation and the VTA Measure B funding agreement. Council found the project to be exempt from CEQA and authorized the City Manager to execute funding and service agreements.

Since then, the project team has completed environmental studies and signed agreements with Caltrain and VTA. The project team is also coordinating with the County of Santa Clara because the eastern option uses County property.

City staff is pursuing grant funding for final design and construction.

Next Steps

• Ongoing - Pursuing grant funding for final design and construction
• Early 2025 - Caltrain begins leading final design phase
• Summer 2025 - Caltrain to release RFP for final design consultant

In the preliminary design phase we evaluated several layout alternatives. Based on community feedback the alternatives were narrowed down to two, see Documents. The alternatives include pedestrian and bicycle-friendly concepts. They will limit right-of-way impacts to Caltrain, Santa Clara County and private properties.

Both Mountain View and Sunnyvale City Councils selected the eastern option as the preferred option. See Documents for the eastern alternative. The project team has completed environmental clearance of this option.

National Environmental Policy Act (NEPA) - file pending Caltrans Local Assistance final approval

CEQA Notice of Exemption, Sept. 24, 2024

Sunnyvale City Council, Aug. 13, 2024

Eastern Option Exhibit, May 23, 2023

Sunnyvale City Council, May 23, 2023

Mountain View City Council, April 25, 2023

Mountain View Council Transportation Committee, April 10, 2023

Sunnyvale Bicycle and Pedestrian Advisory Commission, March 16, 2023

Mountain View Bicycle and Pedestrian Advisory Committee, Feb. 22, 2023

Mountain View Bicycle and Pedestrian Advisory Committee Presentation, Feb. 22, 2023

Bernardo Avenue Alternative Designs, Feb. 2, 2023

Community Meeting on YouTube, Feb. 2, 2023

Community Meeting Presentation, Feb. 2, 2023

Bernardo Avenue Draft Preliminary Conceptual Designs, Dec. 2, 2020

Special Joint Sunnyvale-Mountain View Bicycle and Pedestrian Advisory Commission/Committee (BPAC) Meeting on YouTube, Dec. 2, 2020

Special Joint Sunnyvale-Mountain View BPAC Meeting Materials, Dec. 2, 2020

Special Joint Bicycle and Pedestrian Advisory Commission 20-0992, Dec. 2, 2020 - Presentation of Draft Concepts for the Bernardo Avenue Undercrossing Project

Report to Council 17-1203 - Feb. 6, 2018 - Authorize Amending an Existing Contract for the Preliminary Design and Environmental Clearance of the Bernardo Undercrossing Project (F17-075) and Approve a Cost Sharing Agreement with the City of Mountain View and a Service Agreement with the Peninsula Corridor Joint Powers Board Regarding the Project and Approval of Budget Modification No. 38

In 2018, the City entered a cost-sharing agreement with the City of Mountain View. This agreement was for the preliminary design and environmental clearance phase.

In July 2020, Sunnyvale and Mountain View received a funding award for the project. This award was the 2016 Measure B Bicycle & Pedestrian Capital Projects Competitive Grant. This grant award will fund a portion of the design and construction phase of the project.

On June 3, 2021 the Peninsula Corridor Joint Powers Board of Directors (JPB) approved a Use Variance for the proposed project through the Rail Corridor Use Policy (RCUP) process, the project was found to be compatible, with conditions, with current and future railroad needs. These conditions include:

• Minimize impacts to railroad infrastructure, operations, and maintenance
• Comply with Caltrain construction standards
• Achieve compatibility with future grade separation at Mary Avenue
• Caltrain to lead the process from 35% design through delivery
• Document roles and responsibilities in each phase of project development in agreements

The project team developed many conceptual options and narrowed these down to four options. The community provided input in late 2020. We refined these options based on this input.

We presented the two refined options in a series of public meetings in early 2023. The public meetings included:

• Mountain View Bicycle and Pedestrian Advisory Committee
• Sunnyvale Bicycle and Pedestrian Advisory Commission
• Mountain View Council Transportation Committee
• Mountain View City Council
• Sunnyvale City Council

The Mountain View and Sunnyvale city councils selected the eastern option. The eastern option moved into environmental clearance.

This project will involve coordination with Santa Clara County and Caltrain. The cities of Sunnyvale and Mountain View are project co-sponsors. Sunnyvale led the preliminary design and environmental phases of the project. Caltrain will lead the final design and construction phases of the project.

In May 2024, the City applied for the federal Safe Streets and Roads for All (SS4A) grant program. However, we were not awarded. We are also applying for the California Local Partnership Program (LPP). If awarded, these funds would be used for construction.