Greetings!

You wrote, you spoke, you conquered -- 65+ of you wrote letters to the city council, and 49 of you spoke at the city council meeting. It was amazing and awesome. The support came from seniors, young adults, families, teenagers, 4th graders, 8th graders, rollerbladers, runners, bikers, and more.

Tuesday night, the Council voted unanimously to move the Regnart Creek Trail forward to construction without another vote or another delay and without increasing the budget allocated to the fencing.

Thank you to everyone who emailed or spoke at the meetings over the past three years to help the trail pass vote after vote. It's been a long, tough road and none of this would have been possible without your support.

The Linda Vista Trail was also approved that night to commence construction without another vote, during an earlier agenda item. Read on for all the details!
Regnart Creek Trail Approved!

A UNANIMOUS VOTE 
Councilmember voted 5-0 to accept the bids for the project, if they are on budget, and begin construction on the project without another vote. Every Councilmember also declined to increase the budget for the fencing and declined to have yet more outreach by City Staff to talk with the adjacent neighbors about their fencing selections. It should also be noted that every vote on the Regnart Trail--there have been five of them--has been a unanimous council decision to move forward.
THIS VOTE WAS IMPORTANT
This vote allows the trail to begin construction without more delays, an important consideration. If trail construction is not started before February, then the entire project will be delayed by at least 8 months due to nesting season. The vote also means that more public taxpayer funds from our city's budget will not be diverted to paying for homeowners' private fencing along the trail. For more on the fencing, see here.

49 SPEAKERS IN SUPPORT. 65+ EMAILS SENT
The large amount of vocal support from residents from every corner of Cupertino showed how much community support this project continues to have. It had a huge impact on the councilmembers as was evident from their comments during the discussion. Without all of your work, it is unlikely that the vote would have been the positive outcome it was. Thank you very much to everyone who spoke or wrote in your support on this vote, and on other votes in the past.

NEXT STEPS
The City Staff is finishing up the final details before the bid packages go out for quotes to construction contractors. These requests-for-quote will go out early next month, and the bids are expected to be returned by early-to-mid January. Construction would commence immediately after review of the bids and contractor selection. The fencing and the trail itself will likely have different construction contractors, but the two aspects of the project will be worked on simultaneously.

However, the anti-trailers have not given up. We have been told that the neighbors along the trail are still talking to the city staff to try to delay the project by asking for more time to discuss fencing decisions and the allocations for individual residents from the city funds. We need to stay vigilant until the shovels break ground. Please continue to send emails in support of the trail to Councilmembers and the City Manager. Posting on NextDoor in support of the trail construction starting soon is also helpful.

OUR COMMUNITY IS OUR STRENGTH
Our community of residents who desires safer and easier walking and biking for everyone of all ages and abilities is strong and growing! YOUR support makes these infrastructure projects possible for Cupertino and our local community.

If you have family and friends who want to make Cupertino more walking and biking friendly, please encourage them to join us. Our numbers are our strength.
Linda Vista Trail Approved

The Linda Vista Trail was also approved unanimously last night to go to construction without another vote, assuming a bid submitted by an acceptable contractor is on budget.

We have been informed that a bid has already been accepted today by the City Staff from a contractor, coming in under budget. This is wonderful news. Construction on the Linda Vista Trail is expected to start next month.

KEY FACTS ABOUT THE LINDA VISTA TRAIL
The Linda Vista Trail connects Blackberry Farm and the Stevens Creek Trail to the Linda Vista Park. It will be an unpaved trail designed for pedestrians, but allowing for bicycle traffic. Read more about the Linda Vista Trail here.

How These Projects Fit Into City Plans
The Regnart Creek trail will complete a fully protected safe and easy bike corridor east-to-west across most of Cupertino, connecting both Monta Vista and Cupertino High to the City Center and library complex. It will also provide a pleasant nature walk that connects multiple schools and parks and connects east side residents to the library and civic center.

The Linda Vista trail will extend the Stevens Creek Trail down through Linda Vista Park and provide a wonderful walking and biking path connecting residents in the Linda Vista Park and Bubb Road area to the McClellan Ranch Preserve and Blackberry Farm.
Happy walking and biking,

Your friends at Walk-Bike Cupertino
Working to make it safer and easier to walk and bike