State’s River Parkways Program gives Gilroy funds for one-mile
Uvas Creek extension and a trail between Antonio Del Buono and
Lion’s Creek
Gilroy – State officials have awarded the city more than $1 million to install the first northern link in Gilroy’s trail system and to create a southerly path along Uvas Creek, already a top draw for hikers accustomed to hugging the northern banks of the scenic waterway.
The California River Parkways Program has given the city $520,000 for a nearly one-mile trail extension along Uvas Creek, from Santa Teresa Boulevard to the ranch site facing Christmas Hill Park. The state agency also gave the city $492,000 to create a quarter-mile trail connecting Antonio Del Buono Elementary School to Lion’s Creek in north Gilroy. The latter trail, which will run south along Church Street before heading west toward Wren Avenue, is the first northern link in a citywide trail system that will one day connect Gilroy to outlying lakes and ridge lines.
That vision is embodied in a Trails Master Plan city leaders signed off on last summer. Without the plan, Gilroy would not have had a chance at pulling down the grants, said Lee Steinmetz, the landscape architect who helped craft the document and apply for the grants.
“I just think it shows how valuable having a master plan is,” he said. “It really opens up a lot of doors in terms of funding. Just this first grant has more than paid the cost of putting together the trails master plan. That was a really good investment on the city’s part.”
In addition to creating 12-foot wide asphalt paths, the city will use the grant money to restore plants native to the areas surrounding the waterways.
The city identified the two trails as top priorities because they offer a safe path to schools and lie next to waterways. The grant program only awards money to projects along creeks, rivers and streams.
Gilroy was one of 32 governments and nonprofit groups across the state that shared in the $38.5 million in grants awarded by the agency. The city is required to provide 10 percent in matching funds, or roughly $110,000.
Without the state funding, Gilroy would not have seen the trail additions any time soon, said Parks and Facilities Manager Bill Headley.
“It’s unlikely that we would have been able to tackle either one, other than on a piece-meal basis,” Headley said.
He predicted the city would start and finish construction by the end of next summer.
