First opened in 1910, the Dumbarton Rail Corridor served as a freight railroad line from Menlo Park and East Palo Alto (EPA) to the East Bay. More than 100 years later, the railroad has gone out of commission and has since been abandoned. SamTrans recently unveiled plans to restore and repurpose the dormant corridor.
Since February, SamTrans has gathered community feedback to guide plans on what the new corridor will look like. Reimagine Dumbarton, SamTrans’s current proposal for the redesign, plans to transform five miles of the Dumbarton Corridor into a multipurpose buslane, with additional pedestrian and bike lanes.
“From January until March, we had a survey go out to the community so they could tell us what their priorities were for the corridor. We were going to different events that were already happening in San Mateo County,” Ana Vasudeo, one of the Reimagine Dumbarton project managers, said. “We heard all this feedback, and now we have to respond to the community by putting something out there that resembles what the community told us they wanted.”
Vasudeo emphasized her excitement in focusing on allowing students to use bike lanes safely as well. “Next to [the bus lane], we would have space to build a large multi‑use path, like a path that could be used for bicycles, for walking, and for micro mobility,” she said.
In addition, Nearby residents requested more scenic greenery instead of the corridor’s current dry, underutilized landscape marked with bare dirt and graffiti-covered walls. “If you look back at the picture of what it looks like now, the landscaping is terrible. It looks like a not very fun or state parcel of land. One of the things that the community asked for, just in the feedback that we got in the first couple of months, was something that looks more like the University of Minneapolis design,” Vasudeo said.
“One of the residents said, ‘I’m really happy that it’s gonna be a bus, because it’ll be quieter than the rail.’ Sometimes, some of the old‑timers remember when the train used to pass there, and they complained about noise pollution, and so they’re like, ‘a bus is quieter,’” Vasudeo said. “People really wanted connectivity because they say that our current service connecting EPA to the Western neighborhoods isn’t great. A lot of folks wanted a really cool, protected path that connects all those different neighborhoods.”
SamTrans plans to get its finalized design completed by fall 2026 and complete the whole project by spring 2027. Although they are still negotiating for the rights to dismantle the actual railroad, Vasudeo is confident they will be able to finish it in time.
“We want our riders to have a fast and reliable transit service. These are the key benefits that I see if we are able to build this [Bus Rapid Transit] lane and that our team really wants to make happen,” Vasudeo said.
