Los Gatos Weekly-Times

Letters

The Billy Jones train could be a shoppers' special in Los Gatos

I think we, Los Gatos, should extend the Billy Jones Wildcat RR through Los Gatos.

Specifically, the line would run from the corner of Main Street and Santa Cruz Avenue, all the way down Santa Cruz, detour through Oak Meadow and Vasona parks, then follow Blossom Hill Road to Los Gatos Boulevard, follow Los Gatos Boulevard down to and through the shopping center across from McDonald's, where the tracks would loop around and back onto the Los Gatos Boulevard, heading south till after Los Gatos Boulevard becomes Main Street, turning right on University Avenue and making a loop through Old Town, then South on University and right on Main to complete the loop.

This would tie in the old downtown of Los Gatos with our famous parks and the new freeway corridor. It would allow patrons to park once and shop anywhere they wanted in town. It would reflect part of our town's history and the old trains that ran through the mountains. Besides, we already have an experienced crew and facilities for maintaining such a vehicle.

Maybe the train cars would need some type of a covering to protect passengers from the elements. I don't know how it would be paid for, or how much it would cost, but it could be a good investment. It would certainly make Los Gatos stand out in the mind of any of those who visit.

Marty Dart

mldart@mednet.
Stanford.EDU, Los Gatos

Dave Knapp acts on early morning noise

Thanks for running my letter in the opinion section of the Los Gatos Weekly-Times on Jan. 10. We have results!

I received a call from Town Manager David Knapp about the noise the street cleaner makes early in the morning. He fully understood the problem and has changed the cleaning route to a later time so it starts at 7 a.m. instead of 4:30 or 5 a.m. This is a great improvement to my
sleeping hours, and my neighbors agree.

I'd like to say thanks to Dave Knapp for being extremely responsive to my letter in the Weekly-Times and for acting so quickly on the problem. If everyone in the system was like Dave, things would be a lot better.

Scott Milener

scottm@bulletproof.com
Los Gatos

Planning story helped readers understand

I've been living in Los Gatos for almost a year now, yet I never progressed much further than the Town Council in terms of understanding the internal workings of the town. I admit it--I am one of those apathetic types who doesn't get very involved in civic and political matters, although I suppose I'm usually among the people complaining about the selfsame matters!

I now feel a little less removed after reading Tracy Palazzo's article, "Planning Matters," in the Jan. 17 Los Gatos Weekly-Times. What I thought was a group of uninteresting people doing uninteresting things is now a real group who makes very real decisions, with real effects on my community.

Thank you for your service, members of the Planning Commission and Historic Preservation Committee.

S. L. Bartleby

Los Gatos

Stop signs make movement more difficult

I can see no reason for the recent installation of stop signs at the intersection of Camellia Terrace and Oleander Way other than to make movements along this route more difficult with more interruptions! Fewer people will use Camellia Terrace unless they live along this road.

However, all drivers who pass along Camellia Terrace indirectly pay for its maintenance through gasoline taxes and other motor vehicle fees.

Because of Farley Road connecting with Los Gatos Boulevard, there have been stop signs at the intersection of Camellia Terrace and Farley for several years.

This action along Camellia Terrace is similar to the sequence of events occurring several years ago when residents forced the closure of Monterey Avenue at Saratoga Avenue to prevent entrance to or exit from this main road. I don't remember the reason why this entrance was reopened, but after much quarreling and bickering, there was a restoration of ingress to and egress from Saratoga Avenue via Monterey Avenue!

On this same subject of traffic problems, there now occur lengthy and recurring traffic jams along Los Gatos Boulevard because of the stop signs at its intersections with Pleasant Street and with Loma Alta Avenue. The intersection at Kennedy Road does not have this problem because someone had the foresight to install an electric traffic signal at this location! Why cannot this same procedure be followed at the Pleasant Street and Loma Alta Avenue intersections?

Chet Wernziak

Los Gatos