Willow Glen Resident
News
San Jose continues to Reach for the completion of city parks trail project
By Mayra Flores De Marcotte
A new stretch of the Guadalupe River Trail is coming around the corner, but getting there isn't cheap.
The project, dubbed Reach 6 by the San Jose Parks, Recreation and Neighborhood Services Department, has morphed from its original design in 2000 and garnered additional expenses along the way.
"With trail projects, it's difficult because until you start doing some master planning, coordinating and partnering with other agencies, you don't know all the details or the costs," said Yves Zsutty, San Jose trail program manager.
The stretch of trail will connect Gardner and North Willow Glen at Virginia Street and Hwy. 87 to the 254-acre Guadalupe River Park and Gardens, as well as the 2.6 miles of trail already in place.
The current trail ends at the Children's Discovery Museum. Future extensions of the trail system will ultimately cut through Willow Glen near Willow Glen Way.
In the last seven years, a series of challenges have stalled the project. The cost of construction has gone up, the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers has had to rush to build flood controls--thus relocating the trail--and a new relationship with Caltrans has resulted in additional costs, Zsutty said.
"The longer than usual development process is eating away at the funding," he said.
The parks department, however, has come up with a solution.
On Oct. 16, parks representatives asked the San Jose City Council for approval to apply for a River Parkway Grant from the California Resources Agency. If OK'd by the city and approved by the state, the grant would infuse up to $700,000 in additional funds into the city's trail project.
"We're planning to apply that entirely to the construction, signage and all the physical infrastructure," Zsutty said.
Getting the grant is not guaranteed.
"It's competitive," he said.
If the grant is not approved, the parks department will come up with alternatives to make sure this stretch of trail is completed.
If the grant is approved, the project will add 2,100 feet of paved trail and the installation of underpass retaining walls. The grant will also enable the city to build a ramping system, gateway structure and an entry at Virginia Street, signage and striping.
The master plan for the trail project breaks Reach 6 into two phases. The first consists of the stretch between Interstate 280 and Virginia Street. The second phase connects the first phase to the Peninsula Corridor railway at Willow Street, at which point the trail will cross the Guadalupe River via a new pedestrian bridge and continue along the river to the Highway 87 Bikeway and Tamien Light Rail Station.
The stretch of trail is tentatively scheduled for completion by 2009.
When completed, the Los Gatos Creek trail will connect with the Guadalupe River Trail, which will then allow residents to connect with the 400-mile Bay Trail.
