The Sunnyvale Sun

News

New access to Caltrain station will be provided

$130,000 project could be done, open as early as mid-November

By JASON GOLDMAN-HALL

It's ironic that train tracks that have brought people to Sunnyvale for decades also prevent residents from the Hendy Avenue area from quickly accessing the Sunnyvale downtown, even though they live within shouting range of it.

For years, residents often used a shortcut from the intersection of Hendy and Francis Street, over the Caltrain tracks and Evelyn Avenue into the downtown area.

The shortcut went through a hole--or an accessway, depending on who is asked--in the fence put up to prevent people from walking on the train tracks on the other side. Over the years, the opening has been closed repeatedly, sometimes by the city, sometimes by Caltrain.

According to Caltrain's chief operation officer, Chuck Harvey, the opening could be back as early as mid-November, and instead of a hole in a fence with a dirt path, there will be a paved, graded, lit access point leading onto the boarding platform or the downtown area.

Harvey said the entire project--being funded by Caltrain, VTA and the city of Sunnyvale--will cost approximately $130,000 and take less than six weeks to complete.

In addition to the path, a stop sign and crosswalk will be installed at the Frances and Hendy intersection.

"We're happy to see this project nearing completion. This has obviously been a point of concern for many residents," said Sunnyvale communications officer John Pilger.

But until then, the path is closed, and a black, wrought-iron fence stands where chain-link used to. The new fence was erected after residents filed a complaint under the Americans with Disabilities Act, saying there was not an adequate way for disabled people to get downtown. Harvey said as soon as the complaint was filed, the hole had to be closed, because Caltrain would have been legally and financial responsible for any accidents or injuries that occurred on the site.

In August, a sign was posted on the fence--from Harvey--saying the hole would remain closed until construction was completed, to keep pedestrians out of the area before and during construction times.

The sign was quickly torn down, but not before someone scrawled "[Obscenity], we will knock it down," on it.

The fence is still standing, but the chain-link to its right has been rolled back and cut to allow people to squeeze through.

"There are a lot of people who would have liked us to leave the informal access to the downtown, but that was never an official accessway and was not ADA-compliant," Harvey said.

The path has been in the works since the Sunnyvale City Council directed city staff members to begin planning a formal access point for the area around the hole on May 9. Because of the short distance, the resulting path will have to wind back on itself several times.

One Sunnyvale resident, whose house looks out onto the Hendy and Frances intersection, said she had mixed feelings about the opening, because it presented both positives and negatives to the community.

The resident, who has lived in Sunnyvale since 1944 and did not want to be identified because the issue has caused tension among some of her neighbors, said while the opening gave her a quick way to the train or downtown, it also brought a lot of vehicle traffic and litter into the area.

During the afternoon of Oct. 3, there were at least two dozen cars parked along Hendy Avenue, and many others on Frances and Taafe Streets. She said that most of the cars in the area during the day are not owned by residents, but rather by commuters who ride the train.

She said she used the opening for years, to get to Macy's or go banking.

"I used to walk all the way up to El Camino Real," she said, "but some people around here don't like it because everyone parks their cars here."

Many in the community said the shortcut was actually the safest way to get south to the downtown area, even though it led directly to train tracks.

The Mathilda overcrossing has a narrow sidewalk and lacks guardrails. The path is particularly treacherous for people in wheelchairs because there is little room to maneuver.

Wheelchairs and strollers can also get stuck in the train tracks at the Sunnyvale Avenue crossing.