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Politics & Government

Hwy 9 Upgrades to Start in 6 Months

Construction delays attributed to lack of funds.

Don't expect for bicyclists and pedestrians to start anytime soon. 

Officials meeting last week to discuss the bloody stretch of thoroughfare, that traverses the towns of Los Gatos, Monte Sereno and Saratoga, said the public will have to wait six more months—until the spring and summer of 2012—for the project's next improvements to begin.

And when that happens, it will be three years after the project's first part was completed.

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Unsafe conditions along the 4.4-mile piece of thoroughfare claimed the lives of a Monte Sereno bicyclist and a Saratoga woman in early 2004, seriously injured a Saratoga girl in 2007, injured two more bicyclists in 2009 and caused another fatality involving a Cupertino bicyclist in July of 2010.

Government officials from all three communities met the evening of Oct. 24 at the Monte Sereno City Hall to hear representatives from BKF Engineers, who are designing the highway upgrades, say that the project's next phase will be completely funded by a $900,000 federal grant from the Highway Safety Improvement Program awarded to the City of Saratoga.

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That money will be combined with another $900,000 grant from the project's first phase received in spring of 2011, said BKF Engineers project design manager Natalina Bernardi.

The project's next phase will focus on pedestrian safety and will tear down existing broken bike paths to create uniform and smooth five-feet wide bicycle paths on both sides of the highway and add additional pedestrian crossings between Aloha Avenue and Los Gatos town limits with solar-powered lights.

"It is imperative that Highway 9 safety be evaluated in light of improvements that will benefit all road users—including cyclists," said Corinne Winter, president and executive director of the Silicon Valley Bicycle Coalition.

Bernardi added the project's third stage will add modifications to the Austin Way/Saratoga-Los Gatos Road intersection, implement bike detection systems to trigger pedestrian lights at signalized sections in Fruitvale Avenue, Quito Road, North Santa Cruz Avenue and Los Gatos Boulevard, and also complete the bike lane on Los Gatos Boulevard to Saratoga.

These upgrades are expected to begin in the fall of 2012 and will be funded with $462,000 from Proposition 116, also known as the Clean Air and Transportation Improvement Act of 1990. Contributing funds from the Santa Clara Valley Transportation Authority and Santa Clara County totaling $40,000 will also be used, according to a project fact sheet.

“The schedule is made and driven by the project sponsors (cities) and Caltrans  will try to meet and comply with the schedule accordingly,” said Caltrans Project Manager Nick Saleh. The speed on a section of Highway 9 has also been reduced from 50 to 45 mph.

“Everyone is on board with trying to expedite the process as quickly as possible,” said Los Gatos Town Engineer Kevin Rohani.

Bernardi explained the project's last stage would complete pedestrian improvements by connecting walking pathways from Saratoga Avenue in Saratoga, through Monte Sereno to Los Gatos Boulevard in Los Gatos.

According to Bernardi, funding limitations could compromise the project's last part.

Not everyone at the meeting was in full support of spending money to improve Highway 9. Monte Sereno resident Jeff Buonaccorsi said he believed money could be better spent elsewhere, especially on road improvements. "People who bike on the roads know the risks involved and it’s up to them to take their chances,”  he said.

Monte Sereno Vice Mayor Susan Garner concluded the meeting by announcing that the next Highway 9 safety improvement project meeting will take place in the fall of 2012.

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