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Trail users and passersby may have noticed the large mound of dirt piled at the corner of Coleman Road and Almaden Expressway that is morphing into a bridge. It is a sign of the improvements and changes taking place not just at that corner, but all around the trails of Almaden Valley.
The heap of dirt turned into an 800-foot approach from Alamitos Creek Trail and Almaden Lake Park and will meet up with a 220-foot, prefabricated pedestrian and bicycle bridge that will provide safe passage across the creek.
The bridge will run parallel to Coleman and connect to an existing parking lot at the light rail station park and ride. The approach and bridge are part of a $900,000 project, supported by grant money, that began on Sept. 1 and is expected to be complete April 30, 2004.
Just a short hike north of the bridge, the city of San Jose and the Santa Clara Valley Water District are working on a joint project that will build a new pathway for pedestrians and bicyclists from Blossom Hill Road north to Chynoweth Avenue. There will be 4,000 feet of new asphalt trail, benches, some fencing, native landscaping and educational interpretive signage.
The trail will meander under Highway 85 past the water district's percolation ponds and will feature signs explaining the purpose, process and importance of the ponds.
This project, priced at $909,000, began in August of this year and is expected to be completed by March of 2004.
A third joint project being developed between the city and the water district is the Guadalupe Creek Trail master plan, which calls for a trail beginning at Almaden Expressway and Coleman Road. The trial will stretch out to Almaden Quicksilver Park, running generally perpendicular to Guadalupe River and Alamitos Creek and parallel to Coleman Road. Plans should be complete by the end of March 2004.
Funding is not yet available for this project, according to Yves Zsutty, trail coordinator.
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