West Valley cities to study trail along railroad tracks
By Kara Chalmers
A trail running along the Union Pacific Railroad's tracks in Los Gatos, Saratoga, Cupertino and Campbell could be developed, pending results of a feasibility study. But city officials in Cupertino--the lead agency on the project--say it is too early to tell when.
"This has been used as a trail informally, but people want a more defined trail with amenities, like landscaping," said Raymond Chong, Cupertino's traffic engineer. "It's pretty obvious it could be used as a trail. It's pretty wide, especially in Saratoga."
According to Chong, bicyclists, walkers and equestrians in all four cities have always expressed interest in developing a trail along the railroad lines, at least since he started working for Cupertino in the 1990s.
The vision is for an 8.7-mile trail to be built along existing railroad tracks. The trail would begin in Los Gatos, run through Campbell and Saratoga and end in Cupertino. Saratoga would have the most mileage at 3.7 miles, and Campbell would have the least at .3 miles. Los Gatos would have 1.3 miles and Cupertino would have 3.4 miles.
The cost of the project is estimated to be $9.2 million, 80 percent--$7.36 million--of which the Valley Transportation Authority will pay, Chong said. The four cities will split the rest of the project's cost.
The trail would connect to VTA bus routes, schools, the Stevens Creek Recreational Trail in the North and the Los Gatos Creek Trail in the South. It would parallel Highway 85 on the westside.
"The beauty of this is that this project could be potentially designated as the Juan Bautista De Anza National Historic Trail, bringing in more prestige to the trail itself and it might provide more funding opportunities," Chong said, adding that the national park service has not made a commitment.
In Saratoga, the proposed trail would pass by Congress Springs Park; in Los Gatos it would run by Vasona Lake county park, and in Cupertino, by the Rancho San Antonio County Park. But Chong noted that besides recreation, the trail could be used for commuting. Not only would bicycling and walking commuters not have to deal with traffic, they would have less pollution with a quieter commute and they would not have to make as many stops.
A developed trail would be different from what is next to the tracks today, since it would be a more defined path for biking and walking with bridges over creeks and highways, according to Chong.
"So you have a continuous path that you can safely bike or walk on," he said.
The four cities, the VTA, as well as Santa Clara County, have given approval for Cupertino officials to write a memorandum of understanding, which would formalize the joint effort to do a $200,000 feasibility study. The study would both explore the feasibility of the project and also of acquiring an easement from Union Pacific Railroad. The MOU must be accepted by the six agencies.
"Our hope is to have the jurisdictions approve the MOU this month," Chong said. The MOU is tentatively scheduled to go before the Saratoga City Council Feb. 21.
The next step after all four cities, the VTA and the county accept the MOU, is for them to organize a task force, made up of city staff representatives and community representatives, to oversee the study. As of press time, the task force was deciding between three different consulting firms to do the study. Chong said he hopes the study is completed by Oct. 2001.
The four cities will split the cost of the feasibility study. The VTA will pay $160,000 for the study and the cities will contribute the balance.
Chong said there was initially a concern about splitting the study's cost equally among the cities, since some cities would have more miles of the trail within their jurisdictions than others.
"I think we have a consensus now, there are different ways of cutting the pie, but we agreed that this was the most equitable," Chong said.
The study will contain an inventory of the bridges, creeks, street crossings and plants that are on the property now, an analysis of benefits and challenges of a trail, a conceptual route, funding, cost estimates and timelines and, lastly, how to acquire an easement from Union Pacific Railroad.
Chong said that Cupertino, as the lead agency, has not approached Union Pacific yet, even though the company would have to grant an easement if the trail is to be built. An easement would give the six jurisdictions the right to develop and use the trail, but would not constitute a purchase of the property. Chong said an easement would cost an annual fee, but said he could not say what part of the $9.2 million would go toward paying for the easement. He said that he would invite Union Pacific to attend the task force's March 1 meeting.
"It was critical at the get-go to get the political consensus to proceed with this initial step, the feasibility study," Chong said. "It does not mean that we are going to proceed with the trail because, No. 1, we need to negotiate with Union Pacific Railroad, and No. 2, we need consensus that the cost is reasonable and doable."
The rail line is still in use, and since bicyclists, equestrians and walkers would be using the railroad's property, there are liability and safety issues that need to be worked out, Chong said.
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Saratoga, California Since 1955
