As part of the city's ongoing project to complete it's trail system, the city council approved a contract to install a 10-foot wide pedestrian bridge—the length of which has yet to be determined—that will complement the Los Gatos Creek Trail between Lincoln and Auzerais avenues. The contract was awarded to the lowest bidder, JFC Construction of Lafayette.

"I've been hearing about the city wanting to put in a bridge for years," said Norma Mendez, treasurer for the Gregory Plaza Neighborhood Association. "It's a really good idea. We've had problems with homeless encampments, and a bridge would probably put a stop to it."

John Francis Maggio, also of the association—which has partially dissolved except for a few members who meet infrequently to address serious neighborhood issues—said, "The neighborhood association was in favor of this project from the start. The bridge will cover a narrow open lot and will improve that end of the street. It will make it more attractive. It's better than that chain-link fence that's there now."

At the June 10 meeting the council approved a $257,717 contract to JFC construction, with a $25,800 contingency. Construction should begin in August and be completed and ready for trail users in December.

Given the nature of the area, the five-month plan may be optimistic, according to the contractor.

"There are some logistical problems with the site," said Steve Goldswarthy of JFC construction, the same contractor who designed and landscaped north Willow Glen's Hummingbird Park at Bird and Fisk avenues. "With all the trees there, you can't see across so we may need to trim trees, and its not a wide open area to set up a crane."

Goldsworthy said the pre-fabricated bridge will come in two pieces and will require a large crane to install. JFC Construction will also landscape the area, plus install fencing, foundations for the bridge, a water fountain, benches and paved concrete walkways.

"Now, if we want to get to the other side of that lot we have to go around it," Mendez said. "This bridge will give people more opportunity to jog or ride bikes and feel safer."

Safety has been a priority of Gregory Plaza residents the past few years.

The Gregory Plaza Neighborhood Association was formed to rally the community to revitalize a children's park that in the late 1990s had been overrun by people drinking and using drugs who would leave behind beer bottles and hypodermic needles. With the help of then District 6 Council member Frank Fiscalini and former Mayor Susan Hammer, the safer park reopened in September 1998.

Almost a year later, the association worked with Fiscalini's office to plant eight sycamore trees at the corner of Gregory Street and Fuller Avenue as part of the city's 2,000 Trees for the Millennium campaign. The association wanted to beautify the area prior to completing a a bicycle trail that connects Lincoln Avenue to downtown San Jose.