Joanne Peth and Lana Malloy started the Citizens for Highway 9 Safety campaign last spring after the third fatal accident on the road in two years. Their lobbying helped bring together Los Gatos, Monte Sereno, Saratoga, Caltrans and other agencies to apply for grants to fund improvements to Highway 9.

The Metropolitan Transportation Commission recently approved that funding. While such improvements had previously been included in the commission's 2007-08 funding cycle, they were bumped to the 2005-06 fiscal year.

After Saratoga resident Gina Loveday was hit by a car and killed while walking on the side of Highway 9 on March 21, 2004, Peth and Malloy realized that something needed to be done to get the attention of local agencies responsible for the highway. They knew little about government processes, but figured that the best way to have an impact was through petitioning.

"We started a drive to gather signatures for a petition," Malloy said. "We got 400 people in matter of hours standing in front of Walgreens ... What the people in power needed to hear was a voice of the people."

Those signatures came from residents who had noticed the safety problems on the road: brush and debris blocking the path of bicyclists and pedestrians, six speed-limit changes and a lack of crosswalks.

Peth said that, while it may be a Caltrans highway, it is also a residential street on which both she and Malloy live.

"We started counting how many people were walking and bicycling by," Peth said. "On some days there were close to 400 people walking and riding bikes."

Saratoga Public Works Director John Cherbone said that Saratoga, Monte Sereno and Los Gatos had discussed making improvements to the road in the past, but the groundswell of residents' support gave the safety project the push it needed.

"Sometimes that has to happen, especially when you have to get a large bureaucracy to take notice," Cherbone said. "Sometimes it takes grassroots efforts to spark these things into reality."

Cherbone and officials from Los Gatos and Monte Sereno have met periodically during the last year to coordinate the effort. Though Highway 9 actually continues west from Saratoga, the portion most often referred to is the four-mile stretch that runs through the three cities.

Monte Sereno City Manager Brian Loventhal said the funding amount is currently unknown, but is expected to be about $1.9 million. The three cities and Caltrans--the latter of which owns the highway--will be responsible for matching 15 percent of the grant amount.

That money will be used to make the road safer for pedestrians and bicyclists, Loventhal said. That could include redrawing the lane markers, creating a true bicycle lane and even repaving where possible.

The Santa Clara Valley Transportation Authority proposed the project to the commission on behalf of the other agencies involved. It was one of 11 projects approved for the funding cycle and is ranked third among those. More than 40 projects were competing for funding.

"To be able to compete for them and rank is impressive," Loventhal said.

Patrice Brill, a San Jose resident, said seeing the progress of the safety movement has helped her deal with the loss of her good friend Loveday.

"It's just great that some good came out of it," Brill said. "I really am grateful, because it's made a difference to her family. She was such a wonderful peaceful, peace-loving person that I think she's probably in heaven right now looking down, going, 'Right on.' "

Malloy credited her cohort with most of the work. Peth worked with Brill to create a website at www.highway9safety.com, created an email list to help spread the word and has kept officials, residents and media informed of any progress made. That progress has included radar speed-feedback signs, a new crosswalk in Saratoga and a massive cleanup in January.

"It kind of renewed my faith in the system," Peth said. "When something needs attention, there are ways of getting bad situations rectified if you stick with it and you try to get people to all come together."