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Plans to improve certain street portions along Saratoga-Sunnyvale Road, including the gateway area between the railroad tracks and Prospect Road, will finally come to fruition this fall after being put on hold for several years. Thanks to a funding agreement with the Santa Clara Valley Transportation Authority, the city will be making the road more pedestrian- and commuter-friendly.
The agency is giving the city of Saratoga until the end of September 2004 to spend its contributed $880,000. This amount is in addition to the $2 million acquired from Caltrans in connection with the relinquishment of Saratoga-Sunnyvale Road, formerly Route 85. These funds bring the project's budget to $2,880,000, already included in the five-year capital improvement project budget.
According to the city's public works director, John Cherbone, the money will go toward a number of road and landscape improvements, including pavement repairs and resurfacing, sidewalk installations, drainage upgrades, lane widening, bicycle lane additions and landscaped medians.
"The area is currently in poor condition aesthetically but is structurally in fair shape," said Cherbone. "Once these repairs and improvements are made, the streets would be more user-friendly and pedestrian-safe."
He said construction should not have any major impact on traffic aside from the regular temporary bottlenecks due to possible lane closures.
"The volume of traffic will not change once the project is complete, but driving habits and traffic patterns may," he said. "Once additional medians are installed, drivers would no longer be able to make illegal or unsafe turns."
Many of the residents and merchants in that area said it's about time the city does something to fix up the neighborhood.
"I pass by the gateway portion frequently and have always thought of this place as the ghetto area compared to other parts in the city," said resident Brent Hawkes. "Nicer roads will invite more people to come to this side of town and make it more pleasant for residents to take walks in the neighborhood and to nearby stores."
Hawkes said he's especially thrilled about having a bike lane along Saratoga-Sunnyvale Road. He said that he and his wife bought a bike for his son a couple months ago, but it sits in the garage most of the time.
"If we want to go biking, we usually have to drive to a nearby school where there is more room and it is safer," he said. "It can get a bit inconvenient and timely to have to load three bikes in our truck just to go on a quick bike ride."
Construction is expected to take place in the late fall and will last approximately four to five months.
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