Los Gatos Weekly-Times

Photograph by George Sakkestad

Park planner Debbie Turpen (right) looks over the construction project at the Vasona County Park entrance with rangers Debbie Zapien and Roger Hopkins.

Houses inspire new park entrance

Summerhill Homes contributes funds for construction

By Shari Kaplan

Work is under way to improve the entrance of Vasona Lake County Park as well as the stretch of Blossom Hill Road that passes the entrances to both the park and the Los Gatos Glen tract.

Part of the stone wall around the Vasona gate has been temporarily replaced with orange mesh fences; the entrance is moving up the street toward Los Gatos Creek to bring it in line with W. Roberts Road, creating an intersection.

The work is part of a joint plan between the Santa Clara County Parks and Recreation Department and Summerhill Homes, developer of the 32-home Los Gatos Glen project.

The Vasona wall and gate will be widened and rebuilt, along with a new ranger kiosk, new landscaping and other amenities. Summerhill Homes and the department's capital-improvement funds are financing the improvements.

At the new intersection, a four-way traffic signal should be installed about three months, said park planner Debbie Turpen. Additional improvements to that portion of Blossom Hill include a left-turn lane for eastbound traffic and a right-hand turnout for traffic going west. These costs are also being handled by Summerhill Homes.

All families moving into Los Gatos Glen will be sending their children to Van Meter elementary school instead of Daves Avenue, following a March 13 decision by the Los Gatos Union School District's Board of Trustees to alter attendance area boundaries to route more students away from the overcrowded Daves Avenue.