The Cupertino Courier
News
New projects break ground in Vallco area
By Cody Kraatz
Vallco Fashion Park has scheduled three projects the city approved last fall to break ground in March.
The projects, which are funded and managed by Vallco with traffic control approval from the city, include a sewer upgrade on N. Wolfe Road and Vallco Parkway, a paint job for the Vallco bridge over Wolfe Road and repairs to the fountains in the Wolfe Road median near the bridge.
"We are sympathetic to commuters, so we're trying to minimize traffic congestion," said Vallco spokesman Mike Rohde.
The city approved Vallco's traffic control plans, which should slow traffic only minimally on the Wolfe Road thoroughfare, said David Stillman, the city's senior civil engineer overseeing the projects.
"This is not going to disrupt the traffic flow. We've had lanes closed out there for other projects before and it hasn't been a problem," said Stillman.
According to the most recent counts combining both directions, Wolfe Road carries 26,300 vehicles each day between Stevens Creek Boulevard and Interstate 280, said Stillman. In comparison, the same stretch of De Anza Boulevard carries 48,800 vehicles.
The new sewer lines, required by the Cupertino Sanitary District because of such new businesses as the AMC movie theaters, are expected to be installed between March 5 and April 22. The construction will rip up two lanes of northbound Wolfe Road between Vallco Parkway and the fountains and close one lane of Vallco Parkway in each direction, said Rohde, who estimates the Wolfe Road portion to take four to five weeks.
The sewer work is scheduled at night, between 8 p.m. and 6 a.m. on Wolfe Road, and during the day on Vallco Parkway, where there is much less traffic.
Metal plates over the construction holes will keep Wolfe Road open during the day, except for any road closures from the painting.
The Vallco bridge is due to get a tan, rust and peach paint job to match the multi-screen AMC movie complex slated to open in late April. Vallco construction managers expect the painting to be done by mid-April.
Painting over northbound lanes will be done between 8:30 a.m. and 5:30 p.m.
To minimize lane closures, the city suggested painting over southbound lanes at night, starting at 8 p.m., but that might not be possible because cold weather can make the surfaces moist, said Steve Weddington, who will manage the project for Fairway Painting Inc. in Mountain View. He estimated the painting would take four to five weeks.
Painting crews would set up cones and signs in the lanes they will be working over, closing no more than one lane at a time in each direction, Weddington said.
Vallco is timing the repairs on the fountains to coincide with the other two projects, said Rohde.
The fountains were fixed recently after not working for years, but there was a leak and water flowed out on Wolfe Road, causing a driving hazard and the potential for potholes, said Glenn Goepfert, the city's assistant director of public works.
