Carmen Road Pedestrian Bridge Update
Good Morning -
At last Tuesday's evening meeting, the Cupertino City council
unanimously approved the funding study for the Carmen Bridge project! This is all good news for moving the project to the next step and
thank you for writing the council with your support. Some additional meeting feedback:
Interestingly, two members of the council brought up the issues of
who would really use the bridge at the Carmen location and what the
general level of community support exists. This questioning tells me that we can do a better job preparing the council for these issues, as they really aren't that familiar with the topology of the neighborhoods and the school commute patterns. We could have reminded them that our team submitted a petition of 170 signatures in support of the idea!
Councilman Rod Sinks also questioned whether the crossing ought to be at the bottom of SCB, near the bridge under/over the creek. He likes the idea of having a path that goes from Blackberry Farms/SCB along the creek to Varian Park and that it may serve a greater number of community members, particularly KMS and MVHS students from the SCS area and in connecting the parks. (FYI, there is a set-back along the creek from Crescent Court down to the be bridge at the base of SCB).
Public Works Director Timm Borden will look at this route as part of the study, but wasn't optimistic as access to/from this potential route is quite limited. Byron Rovegno and I have walked it and I don't know how that route could work, so we'll let the city do its research. You can view the meeting on the city channel or via the city's website.
Another aspect of this project is the wide (and wild) variations in the cost estimates - from $500K to $10M in the latest city pedestrian plan documents. The latter number is a "planning placeholder" number and not really based on any reality - that will be better determined as a result of the study. Director Borden indicated that it will take ~ 9 months to complete the study.
Again, thanks for your help and support and there will likely be more work ahead later in the year in gaining more support for this project.
Best to you,
Larry
If you have any questions, please feel free to contact Byron Rovegno at BRovegno@sbcglobal.net. He is the chair of the Carmen Bridge Support Committee, a long-time resident of the SCS and Monta Vista neighborhoods and can answer any further questions that you might have. Please cc: Byron or let him know that you've responded to council - so that we have an indication of response.
Thank You! For your support and initiative to make your neighborhood a better place for you and your family to live.
Here are links for Safe Routes to School maps for MVHS and
You can contact your city council and staff at these email addresses:
DPaul@cupertino.org, RSinks@cupertino.org, SVaidhyanathan@cupertino.org, BChang@cupertino.org, SScharf@cupertino.org, DavidB@cupertino.org, TimmB@Cupertino.org, DavidS@cupertino.org
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Carmen Project re-cap from June 2017:
The Carmen Bridge Task Force of 15 of your neighbors presented the
evaluation petition to the Cupertino City Council on June 6th. Led and presented by Task Force leaders Jian He, Carol Lim, her middle school daughter, and Gerhard Eschelbeck, they eloquently spoke about the dangers of not having a convenient or safe crossing of Stevens Creek Blvd for their children walking/biking to school.
The petition was signed by nearly 170 residents in the immediate Scenic, Carmen/Cupertino Road and Stevens Creek School area. While the council was aware of the initiative, the concept and specific area issues were well explained and understood by the council and city staff at the meeting. The council has been listening to you - they, too, want to make Cupertino safer and healthier for its residents and school children.
This year and next the city staff will be quite busy implementing several important phases of the Cupertino Master Bike Plan. It was suggested by Mayor Vaidhyanathan and City Manager Brandt that the study might be incorporated this year into the Master Pedestrian Plan - currently in development. Either way, we anticipate that the evaluation can be performed during the next fiscal year.
While the idea has very broad support from the immediate neighborhoods, there have been concerns and even objections from some residents - which are to be expected. Primary concerns focused on neighborhood safety, privacy and cost. The community will have the next year or two to understand the different scopes of a potential bridge and its impact.
We know that trails and bike routes improve safety, security and health of our residents. For example, the city (per the SC Sheriff) hasn't sustained any crime incidents at the Scenic Circle access to Blackberry Farms since it was opened many years ago.
We should also be reminded about the terrible traffic at our school sites:
- The K-5 Stevens Creek School student population in the Scenic neighborhood is ~130... or 260 car trips per day to Vista Knoll or Starling Drive. Likewise, the nearly
- 350 middle and high-schoolers from the SCS neighborhood create ~700 car trips/day on Orange/McClellan/Linda Vista Dr. to KMS and MVHS. More bike/ped use will help decrease car congestion in those neighborhoods!
Walk-Bike Cupertino and the Scenic/SCS neighbors in support of the Carmen Pedestrian Bridge project understand that bike routes improve personal and neighborhood safety, health and connect the community for students - plus it's easier to get to know your neighbors when you're walking and not in your car!
Walk-Bike Cupertino thanks you for your support of this great idea and will keep you updated as the project progresses throughout the next city fiscal year.
All the best to you,
Larry Dean
