Saratoga-Sunnyvale Road deal brings city $2 million
By Kara Chalmers
The city has agreed to accept more than $2 million to take over a road, now under state control, and improve it. On March 15, the Saratoga City Council approved a deal with Caltrans, the state transportation agency that, until now, controlled all of Highway 9.
According to the terms of the agreement, Caltrans will relinquish to Saratoga the portion of Saratoga-Sunnyvale Road from Big Basin Way to Prospect Road. In return, Saratoga will accept full ownership, operation, maintenance and liability for the road.
The deal is part of a larger one that involves all the cities the road runs through, including Cupertino, San Jose and Saratoga.
Caltrans will pay Saratoga a lump sum of $2,006,000, an estimate the city came up with to cover the costs of road upgrades and improvements to the Gateway area--the northern entrance to the city that encompasses Saratoga-Sunnyvale Road from the railroad tracks to Prospect Road.
According to John Cherbone, acting public works director, the deal is good for the city since it can now make road repairs without going through Caltrans. It can maintain the road at a much higher level than the state and can respond faster to residents' problems or questions.
But, with control of the road, the city will also incur additional responsibility for car accidents and liability, and will have to make sure the road is properly maintained. But the city attorney said the city would not be subject to additional liabilities beyond those associated with ownership of any public road.
"Definitely, I see more pros than cons," Cherbone said. He presented the agreement to the council at their meeting on March 15. "I think the [pros] far outweigh the cons. I do believe this really is our best chance to make improvements to the Gateway that the city has wanted to do for a long time."
Cherbone sent letters to 1,825 households and businesses located close to the road, and some residents attended the council meeting, either to speak publicly about the project, or to watch the proceedings. Some were eager to know what types of improvements are planned. While Cherbone said he received about 75 phone calls from residents with questions about the project, he said all the calls were positive, after he explained the project.
The funds will go toward improvements the city wishes to make, such as median islands, new sidewalks, landscaping, lighting, bike lanes and pedestrian walkways. The project will include resurfacing the road with an asphalt overlay.
This is not the first time Caltrans had tried to negotiate a contract for the road with the city. Caltrans has wanted to relinquish the road since 1994, according to Cherbone, but previous contract proposals were not acceptable to the city.
In addition to the $2 million from Caltrans, the city has $880,000 in federal grants that may be used for any improvements to Saratoga-Sunnyvale Road, $115,000 in traffic signal improvement grants and $130,000 for a traffic signal at Seagull Drive. The total is more than the city's preliminary estimate ($2 million) of the cost for improvements to the road and to the Gateway.
The earliest that improvements and repair work could start would be in the summer of 2001, Cherbone said.
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Saratoga, California Since 1955
