Walking, hiking, biking trails in Guadalupe River Park continues to improve

From the Guadalupe River Park Conservancy, did you catch this update on the ever-improving trail system being developed in and around downtown San Jose?

South
Construction is getting underway to extend the Guadalupe River Trail further south. The 0.4 mile trail extension will lead trail users from Woz Way at the Children’s Discovery Museum parking lot to Virginia Street.

The linkage to light rail via the Virginia Street Station will be greatly improved, and distance to the Highway 87 Bikeway will be further reduced. The project has been under development for about 6 years and results from many community meetings, master planning and successful coordination with Caltrans for use of State property along the highway.

The trail will be paved and meander between the highway and river. At several key points, the trail will travel beneath highway structures. Although noisy from highway traffic, trail users will enjoy a dramatic view of downtown’s ever changing skyline and not be impacted by seasonal flooding that is anticipated along the east bank of the river. The trail will include two seating areas with interpretive signs about the Ohlone tribes that once lived along the river and Italian immigrant heritage of the neighborhood Washington and Greater Gardner neighborhoods. Additional amenities include paved trail entries with a “compass” design, seating and architectural elements. These elements enrich the trail experience and contribute to the neighborhood’s sense of place. A conceptual image of the future trail improvements is posted at:

http://www.sjparks.org/Trails/GRiver/documents/plan-smallonts24X72.pdf
(3.57 .pdf file)

The project is anticipated to be complete by December 31, 2010.

North
The paving of Guadalupe River Trail from Hwy 880 north to Gold St. in Alviso will start later this year. Unfortunately, that section of the trail will be closed during the construction period, but the resulting paved path should be worth the wait. The project start date hasn’t been determined - we will pass along the information once it’s announced.