This is the text from
an article written by
Janice Rombeck
of the Mercury News,
March 4, 2004.
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TWO NEIGHBORHOODS
MAKE A CONNECTION
GREGORY STREET FOOTBRIDGE
WILL ALSO SERVE AS LINK IN
LOS GATOS CREEK TRAIL
Exploring San Jose neighborhoods on foot or bike just got easier with
the opening of the 140-foot-long, 10-foot-wide Gregory Street Bridge
over Los Gatos Creek in the Willow Glen area.
In the long term, the pedestrian bridge is an important
link to the Los Gatos Creek Trail that eventually will stretch from
the Lexington Reservoir to Alviso through downtown San Jose's Guadalupe
River Trail. In the short term, the bridge, which was officially opened
Saturday, links two neighborhoods and creates an alternative to the
busy Interstate 280-Bird Avenue overpass to get to Lincoln Avenue or
West San Carlos.
The bridge, a $257,727 project, starts at the end
of Fuller Street in the Gregory Plaza neighborhood on the west side
of Bird Avenue. A short distance away is historic Palm Haven. On the
other side of the bridge is a short segment of the Los Gatos Creek Trail
and a connection to Lonus Court, a short street that intersects with
Lincoln Avenue.
On the Gregory Plaza side, the project, built by JFC
Construction, includes fencing, a drinking fountain, benches and an
improved sidewalk.
While residents, including those in north Willow Glen, Gregory Plaza,
Hannah Gregory and Del Monte neighborhoods, are most excited about future
recreation and alternative transportation possibilities when the creek
trails are complete, the footbridge is stirring interest, as well. It
also is generating concerns.
Cliff Price, who lives with his wife, Katie, and their
20-month-old son on Gregory Street in Gregory Plaza, is looking forward
to the day -- perhaps in two or three years -- when he and his family
can hop on bikes and head downtown for a festival. But in the meantime,
he will use the bridge to walk downtown, taking Lonus Court to Lincoln
Avenue and then to West San Carlos.
While it's a slightly longer route, he can avoid the
busy Bird Avenue overpass.
"It's a place to get exercise and not have to
deal with street traffic,'' he said.
He and others are concerned, however, about the bridge
generating foot traffic through Gregory Plaza, a neighborhood that has
had access only off of Bird Avenue. He worries about the Los Gatos Creek
Trail segment becoming a hangout for gangs, and pointed to gang graffiti
on a gate fronting Lonus Court. The neighborhood also has been worried
about a homeless encampment along the creek near Gregory Street.
"There's a possibility of things happening along
the trail while it's secluded,'' he said. "Once it becomes a larger
thoroughfare, I think those problems will go away.''
Norma Ruiz, a 20-year resident of Gregory Street on
the other side of the bridge, got her first peek at it last week before
it officially opened.
"It's lovely,'' she said. "Usually we try
to walk around our neighborhood and walk across the freeway and into
Willow Glen. This provides another alternative to doing that.'
Ruiz, a member of the Del Monte Neighborhood Association,
formerly the Hannah Gregory Neighborhood Association, lives in an area
in transition. The old Del Monte cannery site is targeted for housing,
starting with 500 homes, she said.
"That's just the tip of the iceberg in terms
of development,'' she said.
The trail will eventually go through her area toward downtown and the
new housing should assure it will be well-used.
Not a lot of people know about the Gregory Plaza and
Hannah Gregory neighborhoods, said Councilman Ken Yeager, who represents
both areas. The bridge "makes it easier for people to explore different
parts of San Jose. The rivers and creeks are wonderful in San Jose,
but it isn't easy to cross them. This is one of those areas we're able
to do that.''
The bridge might look like a small step in the completion
of a citywide trail system, but it's an important one, said Yves Zsutty,
the city's trails coordinator. It allows the city to move forward on
a master plan for the Los Gatos Creek Trail extensions. "The bridge
becomes the first part in a much larger recreation area that ultimately
will connect Lexington Reservoir to Alviso,'' he said.
Planning is also under way for 48 miles of trail,
including segments along Thompson Creek, Coyote Creek, the Guadalupe
River and creek, Penitencia Creek, San Tomas Creek and lower Silver
Creek. On Saturday, the new stretch of the Guadalupe River Trail opened
from Blossom Hill Road to Chynoweth Avenue.
"I'm eager to see how well it's used,'' Yeager
said of the Gregory Street Bridge. "There's a couple other Strong
Neighborhoods Initiative areas that have thought about having a bridge
that connects their neighborhood to a trail. So if this works out, it
might be something we see more of.''
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