Carmen Road Pedestrian Bridge -
Please write your city Council this week to urge further study of this important project.
Hello Carmen Bridge Supporters:
At the city's mid-year budget review sessions in the next several weeks (this February/early March), funding will be recommended to conduct an engineering study for the prefabricated bike/ped bridge.
Funding approval will keep the project on track for a targeted implementation 2 to 3 years out. The city is working hard on a number of important long-term projects, so there will be competition for funding. We are asking you to write the council in support of this proposed project.
The city council does listen to you, so take a moment to write!
This project will provide:
- A safe and pleasant ped connection between the Stevens Creek School and Scenic neighborhoods;
- Reduce school traffic at SCS;
- Provide an important Bike Boulevard connection from the SCS neighborhood to Kennedy Middle and MVHS students.
- Avoids crossing the very busy Stevens Creek Boulevard. There is not crosswalk for 1/2 mile on SCB between Phar Lap and Foothill Blvd;
- Benefits older residents for a more pleasant way to walk, excercise and explore your neighborhood.
- Studies attribute walking and hiking routes to improving neighborhood safety and property values.
Here are the email addresses for the city council, city manager and key staff. Please write them!
DPaul@cupertino.org, RSinks@cupertino.org, SVaidhyanathan@cupertino.org, BChang@cupertino.org, SScharf@cupertino.org, DavidB@cupertino.org, TimmB@Cupertino.org, DStillman@cupertino.org
If you have any questions, please feel free to contact Byron Rovegno at BRovegno@sbcglobal.net. He is the chair of the Carmen Bridge Support Committee, a long-time resident of the SCS and Monta Vista neighborhoods and can answer any further questions that you might have. Please cc: Byron or let him know that you've responded to council - so that we have an indication of response.
Thank You! For your support and initiative to make your neighborhood a better place for you and your family to live.
Here are links for Safe Routes to School maps for MVHS and
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Carmen Project re-cap from June 2017:
The Carmen Bridge Task Force of 15 of your neighbors presented the
evaluation petition to the Cupertino City Council on June 6th. Led and presented by Task Force leaders Jian He, Carol Lim, her middle school daughter, and Gerhard Eschelbeck, they eloquently spoke about the dangers of not having a convenient or safe crossing of Stevens Creek Blvd for their children walking/biking to school.
The petition was signed by nearly 170 residents in the immediate Scenic, Carmen/Cupertino Road and Stevens Creek School area. While the council was aware of the initiative, the concept and specific area issues were well explained and understood by the council and city staff at the meeting. The council has been listening to you - they, too, want to make Cupertino safer and healthier for its residents and school children.
This year and next the city staff will be quite busy implementing several important phases of the Cupertino Master Bike Plan. It was suggested by Mayor Vaidhyanathan and City Manager Brandt that the study might be incorporated this year into the Master Pedestrian Plan - currently in development. Either way, we anticipate that the evaluation can be performed during the next fiscal year.
While the idea has very broad support from the immediate neighborhoods, there have been concerns and even objections from some residents - which are to be expected. Primary concerns focused on neighborhood safety, privacy and cost. The community will have the next year or two to understand the different scopes of a potential bridge and its impact.
We know that trails and bike routes improve safety, security and health of our residents. For example, the city (per the SC Sheriff) hasn't sustained any crime incidents at the Scenic Circle access to Blackberry Farms since it was opened many years ago.
We should also be reminded about the terrible traffic at our school sites:
- The K-5 Stevens Creek School student population in the Scenic neighborhood is ~130... or 260 car trips per day to Vista Knoll or Starling Drive. Likewise, the nearly
- 350 middle and high-schoolers from the SCS neighborhood create ~700 car trips/day on Orange/McClellan/Linda Vista Dr. to KMS and MVHS. More bike/ped use will help decrease car congestion in those neighborhoods!
Walk-Bike Cupertino and the Scenic/SCS neighbors in support of the Carmen Pedestrian Bridge project understand that bike routes improve personal and neighborhood safety, health and connect the community for students - plus it's easier to get to know your neighbors when you're walking and not in your car!
Walk-Bike Cupertino thanks you for your support of this great idea and will keep you updated as the project progresses throughout the next city fiscal year.
All the best to you,
Larry Dean
