Saratoga News
News
$900,000 grant means Hwy. 9 safety project will begin
By Shannon Burkey
The city of Saratoga has received a $900,000 Caltrans grant to begin improvements on Phase 2 of the Highway 9 Bicycle and Pedestrian Safety Improvement Project.
"It's always sort of a pleasant surprise because there's a lot of competition for these grants," assistant city manager Barbara Powell said. "There was a large number of communities that applied for grants, and only 98 got them."
Saratoga was one of 355 cities to receive a grant from Caltrans' new Highway Safety Improvement Program.
The grant money will go toward the second phase of the two-phase project that is aimed at improving bicycle and pedestrian safety on the highway, the site of a number of accidents and three fatalities since 2002.
"Concerned residents approached the city after several accidents had happened and asked for something to be done," said , Iveta Harvancik, associate engineer for Saratoga.
Since Highway 9 runs through Saratoga, Monte Sereno and Los Gatos, the three municipalities became partners on the project and worked with outside consultant firm BFK Engineers to come up with a master plan for the safety improvements. The three municipalities also formed an ad hoc committee consisting of two council members from each to gather public input and look over the plan.
In February, the ad hoc committee voted to approve a master plan that included a contiguous bicycle and pedestrian path from the Saratoga Village to Los Gatos Boulevard, widening of shoulders, construction of sidewalks and curbs, lighted crosswalks, construction of a bicycle and pedestrian bridge, the relocation of PG&E poles and signage and striping.
Because of lack of funds, the master plan was broken into two phases.
In the summer of 2005, the three municipalities received a joint federal Congestion Mitigation and Air Quality grant for $1,565,000. All three were required to provide $204,000 in matching funds.
That funding will allow work to begin sometime this summer on the bicycle improvement portion of the plan, as well as the widening of shoulders and adding crosswalks with flashing beacons.
In April, Saratoga applied for the Caltrans grant in hopes of further funding the project.
"This was a really quick turnaround time," Powell said. "Oftentimes, you submit something, then you wait and you wait and you wait. But this happened pretty fast."
The most recent grant, which Saratoga is required to match by 10 percent, will help to fund the second phase of the project, which will include grading, signage, clearing of brush, constructing a walkway from Saratoga to Los Gatos and the construction of a bicycle and pedestrian bridge.
Although the current grant money does not total the estimated $4 million needed to complete the project, Harvancik said it is a good start to making the highway much safer.
The city plans to apply for more grant money as it becomes available to finish the entire project.
"Most of Phase 2 will be done with this grant money," Powell said. "Then we'll have to wait for additional funding. We would, in fact, apply for additional grants for the remainder for the project."
Phase 2 improvements are anticipated to begin early next year. The city must first do an engineering plan and environmental study, then put the project out for construction bids.
