Palo Alto Seale Avenue homeowners, and others in the area, are bracing for changes as a new neighborhood tunnel and partial underpass advance in planning as part of a grade separation project.

Aiming to decrease traffic and maximize safety, the project would be designed to make sure railroads and roads don’t intersect at the Churchill crossing.

Instead, there would be a partial underpass where cars change elevation and go below the tracks while the train continues on the same level. Pedestrians and cyclists would use a separate tunnel along Seale Avenue.

Ripon Bhatia, a senior engineer with the City of Palo Alto, noted that the project will reduce congestion and improve safety on Alma Street and Churchill Avenue.

“The partial underpass alternative will grade separate Churchill Avenue from the current Caltrain tracks using an underpass,” Bhatia wrote in an email. “There will no longer be through traffic on Churchill Avenue at the intersection with Alma Street.”

Bhatia said the start of construction is currently unknown, but is in the planning phase.

“The project is currently in the preliminary engineering stage,” Bhatia wrote in an email. “Construction timing will depend on the completion of environmental documentation, final design, priority and the availability of funding for grade separations projects in Palo Alto.”