PG&E, San Ramon Partner on Trail Crossing to Improve Safety

The Iron Horse Trail is a crown jewel of the East Bay Regional Park District.

The trail winds from Concord to Livermore and links walkers and bikers to local parks, schools, public transit and community centers.

PG&E and the city of San Ramon recently partnered on a big upgrade that is better fulfilling the trail’s mission to connect communities.

A new pedestrian bridge over Bollinger Canyon Road has replaced a street-level crosswalk that mixed walkers, bikers and cars. The crosswalk also forced traffic stops that averaged 2.5 hours per day of red-light idling time on San Ramon’s busiest arterial roadway.

“The new overcrossing provides a grade separation for trail users and vehicles that improves safety and reduces traffic congestion,” said city of San Ramon Associate Engineer Theresa Peterson.

Before the city could build the bridge, PG&E would need to make electric upgrades to install safety lighting.

PG&E teams, including Service Planning & Design, Permitting, Gas Construction and Electric Maintenance and Construction, energized the bridge a month ahead of schedule and under budget.

To show appreciation, San Ramon’s engineering team gave commemorative coins to PG&E coworkers for their work on the bridge and other recent projects.

It was the first time in Peterson’s 19 years with the city that its engineering team gave coins to an outside company.

“The overcrossing was a huge project and is now an iconic structure that means so much to so many,” Peterson said. “Without PG&E’s dedication and assistance to keep our schedule, this overcrossing could not have opened ahead of schedule. We wanted to recognize the team with a symbol of their fantastic work.”

Senior New Business Representative Vladimir Salzmann led the bridge’s new-service connection. He called the commemorative coin one of the highlights of his five-year PG&E career connecting public-works projects to the grid.

“Working in Service Planning brings a lot of responsibility and a lot of moving parts,” Salzmann said. “In this case, pedestrian safety and traffic congestion were huge issues. It felt great to be thanked for our role in keeping people safe while keeping traffic moving to help reduce vehicle emissions.”

To achieve those goals, the city and PG&E would need to overcome several challenges.

A complicated project

The timeline would be an unusual hybrid of wait-and-hurry-up. A long lead time to plan the work would make way for a fast construction schedule to reduce traffic disruptions.

The need to work around nearby infrastructure drove the planning timeline. In the area were lines for PG&E gas and electric service, as well as for recycled water, fiberoptics, sewers and gasoline.

“A lot of things would need to fall into place, and there’s always the potential for unexpected issues to arise,” Peterson said.

In one example, it would take extra time to upgrade the electric box to handle higher voltages.

PG&E would also need to relocate its gas line.

Throw in 46,000 cars driving through the intersection daily, and the delicate construction ballet would grow ever more complicated.

During construction, the trail and Bollinger Canyon Road would close to traffic. Given the impacts, San Ramon officials wanted to keep their promise to the public that the bridge would open on time and on budget.

Putting the customer first

Meeting San Ramon’s timeline would require constant coordination and communication.

Salzmann said his team was ready for the challenge.

“We have a customer-forward attitude,” he said. “Everybody always asks, ‘How can we get the customer what they need on the timeline they expect?’ Different customers have different needs. We always align ourselves to the customer’s timeline instead of the other way around.”

Based on a customer’s timeline, Salzmann creates a calendar of milestones for PG&E and the customer to keep the project on track. Regular check-ins find issues before they create delays.

Peterson praised Salzmann’s communication, expertise and availability.

“Vladimir is very knowledgeable and fair. He is dedicated to excellent customer service and to helping agencies meet their goals. He’s a great person overall, and a great representative of PG&E. He’s a shining star.”

Service Planning Supervisor Minh Nguyen also credited the project’s success to communication and a focus on the customer’s needs.

“The communication the team demonstrated throughout the process was the main factor in meeting the city’s target date,” Nguyen said. “We experienced a lot of issues, but this team did not miss a beat. It was clear from the beginning that we all had the same goal in mind, and everyone stepped up when it was their time.”

It's a dynamic that Peterson said she sees repeatedly in her work with Service Planning.

“Vladimir and Minh worked hard to get everything done for us as quickly as possible,” she said. “I love working with PG&E. We’ve always had great experiences on our projects with PG&E. The company’s staff are dedicated to their jobs and are customer service-oriented. You can tell they want to be there and they’re always eager to help us meet our goals.”

‘A reminder of my purpose’

The overcrossing is achieving San Ramon’s goals and then some.

Peterson said travel times and vehicle slowdown rates at the intersection have “definitely improved.”

The overcrossing sits near a middle school, City Hall, a community center, new senior housing and the Bishop Ranch office and retail center. The new bridge makes it safer and easier to walk to and from these spots.

“The overcrossing is encouraging people to have a healthier lifestyle,” Peterson said. “The amount of people we see crossing is huge. We see people taking selfies on the bridge, and more kids seem to be walking and riding to school on the trail. It’s given people a safe space to get outside and to see and meet other people.”

That’s the kind of impact PG&E’s coworkers said they live for.

“This bridge remains a reminder of my purpose every time I am driving into our offices at Bishop Ranch,” Nguyen said.

Pictured right to left: PG&E coworkers Tanya Ramirez, Vladimir Salzmann, Minh Nguyen and Gary Clark, with family members.