The tale of a trail The tale of a trail (May 20, 2005)

By Jon Wiener

One day, its backers envision, Stevens Creek Trail will extend from the South Bay shoreline all the way through Mountain View and on up to the reservoir south of Cupertino, the jewel of a citywide bicycle network.

But first it has to cross El Camino.

Mountain View is close to coming up with enough money to complete the $3.5 million tunnel under the state highway. Bicycle and pedestrian advocates characterize El Camino as a major obstacle to anyone not driving a car, and say a separated crossing will be a major breakthrough for helping get people out from behind the wheel.

"The main role that (the trail) plays is giving people the opportunity to ride their bikes in a very comfortable setting before they go out on the street," said Greg McPheeters, president of the Silicon Valley Bicycle Coalition, an organization that, including McPheeters, has 48 members in Mountain View.

Along with Mountain View, Los Altos, Sunnyvale and Cupertino have all limited development along the creek over the last four decades and retained public access rights there. But the progress of the actual trail has been slow -- in large part due to funding shortfalls.

Mountain View's method depends mainly on drawing money from budget surpluses and any available discretionary funding for park projects -- money that is not tied to a specific neighborhood, for example. The lack of a permanent funding mechanism leaves the trail's fate at the whim of future city councils, especially as other trail projects begin competing for the same dollars. But leaders in recent years have shown themselves to be very supportive of the project.

Already the city has shunted millions toward Stevens Creek Trail. Most recently, the city council agreed to fund the design of a bridge over Moffett Boulevard, currently the only place where trail users interact with automobile traffic along the entire 4-mile stretch from the bay to Yuba Drive.

And though coffers are approximately $10 million short of covering the cost of the planned route to Mountain View High School, supporters are optimistic about the trail's future.

"Once it gets under El Camino, it's just going to fly," said Mayor Matt Neely, an assistant principal at the high school.
E-mail Jon Wiener at jwiener@mv-voice.com

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