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Uploaded: Wednesday, November 21, 2012, 11:07 AM
In a tight spot: residents pitch ideas for Stevens Creek Trail
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by Daniel DeBolt
Mountain View Voice Staff
Photo
 | Over 120 people packed a meeting hall in Los Altos on Nov. 14 to discuss the biggest challenges yet in extending the Stevens Creek trail -- the last links through Mountain View, Sunnyvale, Los Altos, Cupertino that would eventually connect the Bay to the hills and a trail network to the Pacific Ocean.
The meeting, the first in a series, offered a rare chance for residents to get down to the nitty-gritty of how to design a public works project. Attendees mostly came from Los Altos and Sunnyvale, as well as Mountain View and Cupertino.
Printed maps were given out for people to draw on with colored pencils to show how the trail could be routed around numerous obstacles mostly private residential property that extends to the creek, as well as freeways, railroad tracks and streets. The maps showed in color where the all important public properties exist; mostly water district and city lands scattered next to the creek. The trail may not be able to run anywhere else.
Sunnyvale and the three other cities have pooled their money to study options for the most difficult segments between southern Mountain View and Cupertino. The goal is to come up with a trail alignment from Southern Mountain View to Cupertino that "all four cities can buy into," said Jack Witthaus, Sunnyvale's traffic and transportation manager.
Environmental planner and consultant Jana Sokale said that 35 percent of the trail users are people getting to and from jobs, shopping and schools.
And surprisingly, there are a lot of steelhead trout spawning in the creek near Blackberry Farm in Cupertino, where Sokale said 1,400 of the fish had to be relocated for a project not long ago.
"We moved 1,400 steelhead," Sokale said. "Did you know you have 1,400 steelhead? Pretty cool, huh?"
Plotting a route
During most of the meeting, attendees met in groups and drew on maps, and discussed possible routes with city officials and consultants.
"You could build a trail there but it depends on what the neighborhood wants," said Sokale to a Sunnyvale resident. The woman was pointing to public land on a map running along the creek for half a block south of Fremont Avenue, which abruptly ends at an alleyway between homes on Bedford Avenue, potentially a place for a trail-head. "If you lived in that neighborhood, would you want neighborhood access to that trail?" Sokale asked.
Private property
South from there the creek runs through dozens of residential properties in Sunnyvale and Los Altos, with only a smattering of public land. In some places there is room for a trail (10-15 feet of width is needed), but the land isn't public or the bank has partially collapsed into the creek. Some attendees marked where the trail should go on city streets while others wanted it to go along the creek, no matter what.
As Mountain View builds the trail closer, the view of residents in the areas just south of Mountain View has increasingly moved to: "No matter what the cost is, we want what we can get next to the creek," said Ross Heitkamp, a Mountain View resident and member of the Friends of the Stevens Creek Trail. Its big change from the past. "At one point, Los Altos' view of the trail was just put a couple signs that say 'Follow it this way,'" on city streets, Heitkamp said.
Los Altos was hamstrung for a while by Sunnyvale's lack of participation. For much of the trail between Fremont Avenue and Homestead Road, the creek is the border between the two cities. But the bits of public property the trail could use are mostly in Sunnyvale.
"My city years ago decided it did not want to participate in building a trail," said Witthaus, Sunnyvale's project manager. "Now the city of Sunnyvale is taking the lead, kind of ironically."
"Its the first time Sunnyvale has studied the trail, except for 25 years ago," Sokale said.
The multi-city approach could provide some balance to the heated opposition the trail has seen in the past. Heitkamp says there's much less to be concerned about than some may think. He recalled one very vocal opponent of a trail segment in Mountain View who told him, "Now that it's in, I have no problems and I use it everyday." City officials have also said the trail has become popular wherever its been built.
A long effort
Consultants pointed to documents that showed plans for Stevens Creek trail going back fifty years.
"All the way back in 1962, Santa Clara County planners first envisioned this green corridor extending all the way out from the hills to the Bay," Sokale said.
And it may take many more years to fund and design. To continue the trail south from its current end at Sleeper Avenue and Heatherstone Way, the trail will have to make its way through some very tight spots, Sokale said. Officials would be meeting with Caltrans to discuss a half dozen options for "pinch points" such as where there's little room between the sound wall and the creek. Possible solutions include a platform hung off the side of the highway's sound wall, or even moving the sound wall out of the way.
A bit further south there are only tiny pieces of public property for the trail near Mountain View's southern border just north Fremont Avenue. Sokale suggested that the street bridge there be rebuilt to allow the trail to go down onto the slopes of the creek bank and underneath Fremont Avenue, likely a very expensive proposition.
"This is a very challenging project," Sokale said. "This team of consultants have built this trail in hard, hard areas, but this is even harder."
For more information, including dates of future meetings and property maps, visit the study's website.Are you receiving Express, our free daily e-mail edition? See a sample and sign-up for Express.
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Posted by Mr. DePortum, a resident of the Blossom Valley neighborhood, on Nov 21, 2012 at 12:41 pm Long time Mtn View residents should be the only ones allowed to use the trail.
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Posted by trail user, a resident of the Old Mountain View neighborhood, on Nov 21, 2012 at 12:48 pm The value of the Stevens Creek Trail is that it is a continuous trail. You don't have to worry about cars pulling out of driveways or running you down from behind. You don't have to worry about getting lost at poorly marked or poorly lit intersections. Sunnyvale, Los Altos, and Cupterino need to do whatever it takes to build the same type of trail in their cities. Making the trail more dangerous will ruin the experience and prevent many families from using the trail.
Gas prices are never going back to $3. Highways are getting more and more expensive to build and maintain. Bicycling is a much cheaper alternative for cities and citizens, if safe and convenient bicycle routes can be built. Do the right thing now. You may never get another chance.
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Posted by Greg, a resident of the Old Mountain View neighborhood, on Nov 21, 2012 at 2:17 pm Mr DePortum, why do you feel that only long-time MV residents should be allowed to use the trail?
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Posted by Homeless encampments, a resident of the Monta Loma neighborhood, on Nov 21, 2012 at 2:40 pm Trails = great place for homeless encampments
Trails = great place to get robbed
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Posted by Miss Direction, a resident of the Monta Loma neighborhood, on Nov 21, 2012 at 2:49 pm The CREEK is what attracts the homeless. The TRAIL chases them away...up stream has been the trend.
I've been tracking a few of these spots since the Sleeper Ave connection, and invariably when the trail moves in, the homeless move out, or at least to a new area of the creek where the trail does not run right by. Take the trail away and you'll see real encampments like on the trail-less sections of the Guadalupe River in SJ.
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Posted by Doug Pearson, a resident of the Blossom Valley neighborhood, on Nov 21, 2012 at 4:15 pm I rarely use the Stevens Creek Trail, but I'm glad it's there and hope a way can be found to run it all the way from the Bay to the mountains, preferable along the creek but, if and where necessary, on city streets.
I am very grateful to the city of Mountain View for the millions of dollars they have sunk into the trail, in good times and bad.
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Posted by Mr. DePortum, a resident of the Blossom Valley neighborhood, on Nov 21, 2012 at 4:38 pm I feel that long time MV residents pay the taxes that funded the trail and they are better citizens and should be protected from outsider scum, in reply to Greg.
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Posted by the_punnisher, a resident of the Whisman Station neighborhood, on Nov 21, 2012 at 6:15 pm We have two extremes here with the typical professional camps to make things interesting.
The new yuppies on bikes will demand a 25+ or NO speed limit on the SCT. The other extreme is the OLDER SET that want to fish. They would prefer that ( along with others that use the trail ) that no more than 10~15 MPH is the proper compromise. Note that I said COMPROMISE. People would rather have these cyclists turn into PEDESTRIANS who don't use a trail as their exclusive FREEWAY to get to work!
Up in Evergreen,CO REAL compromise is an unspoken agreement the cyclists with bikes worth more thin their car stay clear of the trail around Evergreen Lake. Many fishermen sit ON the trail and the other SLOWER users of the trail work together and make the Lake Trail a fun place to be. You want your adrenaline fix? Take it to the other trails, some of which have some very strict rules because of the 'tude of these Spandex freaks and the damage they do at an environmental and behavioral level. The regular taxpayer has to pay these bills. Unless you shove your walking stick thru the spokes, you will not be able to identify who has done the damage when that bicycle speed freak runs you down.
I think it's best that the " bicyclist commuter lifestyle " compromise with the lower speed limit. SCT was NOT created for arrogant commuter cyclists any more than our modern Interstate ( some areas excluded ) for cyclists and their ilk.
I'm not going on about the professional homeless camps.
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Posted by Too easy, a resident of the Cuesta Park neighborhood, on Nov 22, 2012 at 6:27 am Oh punisher, you are so absolutely adorable when you get all riled up about people on bikes. See you on the trails, 5 days a week. Happy Thanksgiving!
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Posted by Saejin, a resident of the Shoreline West neighborhood, on Nov 22, 2012 at 10:05 am It is great that we have made so much progress on The Stevens Creek trail. It is a shame that we are turning our backs and short stopping the Permanente Creek Trail Project and allowing it to be lost for generations to come. Mountain View is in the process of approving new construction blocking the reclaiming of Permanente Creek where it has been interred in a Mountain View culvert as it crosses El Camino near Mariposa. If one traces this creek trail that goes from Middle field to the bay, with a little forward thinking it could easily be extended from El Camino, past Castro School, behind the Mountain View Teen Center (old Rock Creek Church, behind the Day workers center, all easily connected with the Hetch Hetchy right of way trail network just north of Central Express Way.
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Posted by Otto Maddox, a resident of the Monta Loma neighborhood, on Nov 26, 2012 at 3:17 pm The people planning this trail should consult with the group who put together the Los Gatos Creek trail in San Jose/Los Gatos.
I used to live at the Meridian end of that trail. Great trail. 10 miles from Meridian all the way to the Lexington Dam. I rode that many times.
I'm sure they had to deal with all the same issues as we see now. No need to reinvent the wheel. Bring in the people with the experience.
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