The Campbell City Council says it needs more information before green-lighting a plan to open up a 1.7-mile stretch of the San Tomas Aquino Creek Trail to the public.

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November 30, 2016 Campbell: San Tomas Aquino Creek trail proposal in preliminary phases The council on June 20 reviewed a proposal trail segment between Westmont and McCoy avenues near Westmont High School and Forest Hill Elementary School.

The property, owned by the Santa Clara Valley Water District, is fenced off and runs along the creek. A trail, staff believes, could work as an alternate route to school for students.

Since early last year, staff has worked with the city of San Jose, the water district and the two schools on a plan and gathered input from residents living around the trail.

The segment is the first of three which together would stretch 1.7 miles and cost about $5.3 million.

The second segment would pick up at McCoy Avenue and run to San Tomas Aquino Road, and the third segment would continue to the intersection of Virginia and Budd avenues.

Residents abutting the trail asked the council to not go forward with the plan, voicing concerns over potential trespassing, increased noise and loss of privacy. More than a dozen residents spoke in opposition.

Audrey Kiehtreiber, president of the San Tomas Area Community Coalition neighborhood group, told the council the trail “doesn’t lead to anywhere” or connect to other trails, such as the Los Gatos Creek Trail.

“It’s a path to nowhere,” she said.

Along with residents’ concerns, costs were at the forefront of council discussion. Staff said there is $650,000 available that would only allow for the design of the first segment.

The council also had questions about who would bear the costs of constructing a new pedestrian bridge that is ADA accessible and tearing down the existing bridge at Silacci Drive.

“The sticking point of the current bridge is that this is not a city of Campbell-owned bridge,” public works director Todd Capurso told the council.

The bridge has been an issue for some time. Funding for the trail project was available back in the early 2000s, but the project was shelved when the bridge costs were deemed too much of a burden for the city. There was a question as to what entity would construct a new bridge, since some of the trail is in San Jose.

The trail project was resurrected for fiscal year 2015-16 after Campbell budgeted $120,000; San Jose, $100,000; and the state, $430,000 from its Pedestrian and Bicycle Project funds.

The council voted 4-1 to delay and get more information from city staff.

“I just don’t see the viability of a good environment being created here,” Mayor Liz Gibbons said of the trail location after hearing residents’ concerns. “There’s too much that doesn’t work for me, and there’s not enough information for me to see this working for the community.”

Councilman Jeffrey Cristina wanted the council to make a decision about the project sooner. He cast the lone dissenting vote and said the council shouldn’t “kick projects down the road.”

“If nothing else, keep in mind that in we are significantly short in what our General Plan requires for us to have for open space, and we’re not getting any more,” he said. “This is a pretty good opportunity for us to able to expand that slight.”