Blossom Hill (Road) is a station that desperately needs access improved to improve its ridership the third lowest on Caltrain, 66 average weekday boardings in February 2013. A pedestrian crossing has been proposed over the years (either a bridge or grade-crossing) across the tracks to provide access from Great Oaks Parkway and a bridge finally began construction in late 2013 or early 2013 with the concrete pylons visible when I stopped for my photo essay that will serve a proposed urban village on the opposite side of the tracks. Another nearby footbridge, named Xander's Crossing in memory of Alexander Arriaga, a two-year old toddler killed on November 21, 2005 by the southbound Coast Starlight when his babysitter taking care of two other babies was having them trespass across the tracks. This bridge crosses both the tracks and Monterrey Highway to the shopping area across from the Caltrain Station. There is a bump downwards to track along the low-level platform with a tactile warning strip, across from the entrance to the platform that was clearly part of the original design to have a mid-platform pedestrian crossing. The edge of the platform is surrounded by orange construction mesh. The station opened with the extension to Gilroy on July 1, 1992 and today has 3 daily peak-direction rush hour only trains that stop; Amtrak's Coast Starlight bypasses using the same tracks. The station is currently the southern most in the sprawling city of San Jose but another stop at Bernal Road a bit farther south (and closer to one of IBM's corporate campuses) was proposed as part of the original Gilroy service plan but never built.
The station consists of a single island platform along the east track of what are two tracks in the area. The platform is parallel to Monterrey Highway that lacks a sidewalk on its west side; some trees separate it from the station. All access to the platform until the overpass is complete is provided by crosswalks at the intersection of Ford Road where it ends at Monterrey Highway near the platform's southern end. Two ramps, one ADA compliant with white railings and another that has simple concrete sides provides platform access. There are two black bus shelters in this area: one between the ramps has a single TVM in service with evidence of the pedestal of another one that has been removed, the other has a built in bench. There is also a fenced off and mesh walled wheelchair lift enclosure and a blue assistance please bench next to it slightly farther down the platform. The only other amenities are brown concrete trashcans, a couple ClipperCard Tap On/Tap Off targets and two platform signs for Blossom Hill (white text on red) one at each end of the platform. The backs of them say 'boarding area' facing the street.
The station has an oversized (their only 66 daily riders) parking lot with 425 free parking spaces. It is a triangular lot at the SE corner of Ford Road and Monterey Highway, the rear of the lot buts against the small backyards of houses of a subdivision. On the sidewalk at the corner are some bike racks and bike boxes. The lot has plenty of greenery inside it although it should be restriped. The lot has entrances at the two corners not from the intersection and the entrance from Ford Road includes a previous generation CalTrain Blossom Hill Sign.
All Photos taken on 12 June, 2013
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