San José trails year-end update

Here's the latest from the City of San José's Department of Parks, Recreation, and Neighborhood Services on the trail scene:

Construction Projects

Work on the Guadalupe River Trail extension continues but we are expecting a schedule delay due to an unforeseen under-ground conflict. Paving work at Woz Way required removal of some existing pavement. As demolition work occurred, the contractor found unusually large rebar and thick concrete. Work stopped because of the unusual condition. An investigation determined that the pavement was intended as a warning so that no impacts would occur to the system of box culverts that travel beneath the park to carry flood waters. The pavement served its purpose, but the discovery delayed the project for several weeks and some redesign work has become necessary. Most of the trail improvements are now in place, with decorative gateways remaining the final major deliverable. Construction is expected to be completed by February 2011. More information about the Guadalupe River Trail can be found at: http://www.sjparks.org/Trails/GRiver/index.asp

The Milestone Marker Test Deployment project is being deployed in January along the Los Alamitos and Calero Creek Trail systems. The markers provide a tool for precisely locating points along trails to speed emergency services response and record keeping.

Bids for the Milestone Marker Final Deployment project have been received and came in under budget. These additional markers will be deployed along the Guadalupe River, Los Gatos Creek and Coyote Creek Trail systems. Staff is working with the State of California to reallocate some unspent grant funds... if successful, further deployments will occur within the new year.

Awards

San José was the proud recipient of the “State of the Art” Award received at the American Trails Symposium conducted in Chattanooga. The award acknowledges the innovative approach of defining precise addresses along the distributed trail network. San José staff participated on a panel discussion with representatives of Atlanta on the development of trail systems within urban areas. More information about the award can be found at: http://www.sjparks.org/Trails/TrailsAwards.asp