GILROY
– The Uvas Creek Trail is arguably Gilroy’s hottest spot for
exercise, be it jogging, walking, cycling, roller-blading or
skateboarding.
GILROY – The Uvas Creek Trail is arguably Gilroy’s hottest spot for exercise, be it jogging, walking, cycling, roller-blading or skateboarding.
One common complaint, however, is that it’s too short – a mere 1.75 miles from Luchessa Avenue to Laurel Drive.
“It’d be nice for it to go a little farther, especially if you’re riding a bicycle,” Bill Nasiatka, 47, of Gilroy, said while jogging on the trail Thursday.
Ask and you shall receive – in this case, at least.
With fitness, recreation and function in mind, the city has begun extending the Uvas Creek Trail west from Laurel Drive to Santa Teresa Boulevard. This extension is only perhaps 300 yards, but it will be a key link allowing students to walk to and from the new Ascencion Solorsano Middle School without traipsing all the way north to Third Street, a detour of about a mile each way.
But this modest extension, costing $171,410, is only the beginning. City and county planners envision people one day cycling and walking on a paved trail from Gavilan College to Uvas Reservoir – a one-way distance of about 11 miles.
The City Council already has approved plans to extend the trail’s western end another two miles to Bonfante Gardens Family Theme Park and the eastern end a short distance to a new sports park south of Luchessa Avenue, west of Monterey Street.
Santa Clara County’s Trails Master Plan would extend the Uvas Creek Trail all the way upstream to Uvas Reservoir.
On the east end, city staff have proposed a connection from the sports park south to Gavilan College.
“It may take several generations for some of these things to happen,” city Parks and Recreation Engineer Bill Hedley said Thursday.
The sports park link, however, is expected sooner rather than later, since the city has not only plans but funding. With a $363,000 grant from the Valley Transportation Authority, the city expects to begin sports park construction next year, Hedley said. While the nine-phase sports-park project may take 15 to 20 years to complete, the trail link is in phases 1 and 2.
The current construction will terminate the trail on the east side of Santa Teresa Boulevard, but in the spring, the city will route the trail under the Santa Teresa bridge – which spans Uvas Creek – ending it at Third Street on the west side of Santa Teresa. The city is paying for this project from its Parks Development fund, drawn from impact fees the city charges developers.
The link to Bonfante Gardens won’t happen for another two to 12 years, Hedley estimated. In fact, the entire Debell Uvas Creek Park Preserve would extend to the theme park. All this is part of the Hecker Pass Specific Plan, approved by City Council in 1992, but there’s more work yet to do.
“We don’t have control of the property yet, nor do we have funding,” Hedley said. Grant money could speed the project up, he added.
Uvas Creek, under the bridge and west, is now popular among homeless people as an illegal campground.
“It is our expectation that that particular area would cease to be a homeless assembly area,” Hedley said, noting a year-round homeless shelter planned for north Gilroy. The city did not target Uvas Creek for a trail with the intention of rooting out the homeless, Hedley said, but that’s a “collateral impact” he sees as positive.
“The desirable activities replace the undesirable activities,” he said. “Before the city took over the sand and gravel area which is now the Uvas Creek Park Preserve, it was an area where you could go out and shoot your .22 rifle or ride your dirt bike.”
Past Bonfante Gardens to the northwest, the county has proposed pushing the trail another six miles to Uvas Reservoir. There’s also been talk of another spur trail up Bodfish Creek (a tributary of Uvas) to Mount Madonna County Park.
“The County Park Trails Master Plan designates most of the drainage areas in the county as potential trails,” Hedley said.
As for the Gavilan College link, that’s just a city staff proposal at this point.
“I would rank it high from a staff-approval standpoint,” Hedley said.
The city as yet has no trails master plan, but a task force is currently being assembled to draw one up. The Gavilan link might be part of that.
“The Uvas Creek Trail will probably be the spine of the city’s trail system,” Hedley said.
Hedley’s businesslike demeanor changed when asked to describe the benefits trails offer to citizens.
“I can’t think of a more desirable thing for a city or community than to give (people) an opportunity to get out of their vehicles and on their feet,” he said.
City Councilman Roland Velasco agreed.
“Whether you’re a biker or a hiker or you just want to get out and enjoy nature, you’ll be able to enjoy this beautiful trail,” Velasco said. “This really goes to just a quality-of-life issue for our citizens.”
The Dispatch also asked Gilroy Mayor Tom Springer and Councilman Peter Arellano for comment, but they did not return phone calls.
Those who use the trail for recreation will appreciate the added running room.
“I would like it extended,” Julie Montoro, 33, said Thursday on the trail. “It’s too short.”
Her jogging partner, Sulema Cruz, 55, agreed. Both women live in Hollister but work in Gilroy, and they often come here after work to jog.
