Photograph by Kathy De La Torre

The shuttle bus, recently called into service for the holiday shopping season, departs from the newly paved parking lot on Miles Avenue.

Shuttle and valet anchor holiday plan

By Nathan R. Huff

After nearly a year of discussion, town staff managed to implement the downtown holiday parking pilot program in a matter of a few weeks.

An array of capital improvements have been made, and new, temporary parking programs are in place. The plan, pieces of which have been implemented over the past several weeks, takes elements from last year's holiday parking program as well as a parking management plan crafted by an outside consultant this past summer.

Among the more expensive components of the plan are the resurfacing of several town lots, the construction of a new lot at the town's Miles Avenue service center, and a holiday shuttle and valet service.

The shuttle and valet services, with respective price tags of $40,000 and $45,000, began on Nov. 1. The free valet service is being offered in lot 4 from 10 a.m. to 9 p.m. on the lower level and 10 a.m. to 10 p.m. on the upper level. The upper level is reserved as three-hour parking, while unlimited parking is allowed on the lower level.

The 27-passenger shuttle service runs daily from 8 a.m. to midnight, through Dec. 24. The shuttle runs from the town's Miles Avenue parking lot, up to University Avenue, heading south to Main Street, west to N. Santa Cruz Avenue, south to Royce Street, back to University, and finally down to the Miles Avenue lot. Town officials and business owners hope the shuttle will encourage employees to park in outlying lots, freeing up more convenient parking for customers.

"It's aimed at getting people to park down at Miles Avenue and to move people around," Parking Coordinator Robin Tole said. "Businesses have to encourage their customers to use the shuttle and valet parking if this is going to work."

Tole and the town hope the recent paving of the Miles Avenue lot and the shoulder along the street will make parking in the area more appealing. The lot officially reopened on Nov. 6. The town spent $38,000 to repave the lot and shoulder.

Town lots 1 and 2 also received a new coat of asphalt at a combined cost of $215,000. The project, which was planned before the holiday parking program, was completed on Nov. 6.

The opening of University Avenue to two-hour parking from 9 a.m. to 6 p.m. daily has occurred, much to the neighbors' displeasure. As a token of a conciliation, the town has also installed a stop sign at University Avenue and Royce. Previously unregulated sections of Tait and Wilder avenues have seen the reverse process occur--parking is restricted to two hours during the daytime.

Finally, the town continues to move forward with its education and enforcement components. Details of the holiday parking program have been distributed to area businesses in the form of a black-and-white brochure, with color versions to follow. Parking ambassadors--hired by the town on a temporary basis--are also doing daily lot-usage counts, contacting merchants regarding the program and directing customers to parking. On the enforcement end, the Los Gatos-Monte Sereno Police Department will expand enforcement hours on Nov. 24.

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