Trail Quality: Here's what we can do!
We’ve all noticed it. The quality of the trails in San Jose has gone down dramatically during Covid. That’s an understatement. You all have complained, rightly so.
And, you’ve been understanding. Thank you for that.
You all know that it’s a bit insensitive to demand that the trails we ride be kept trimmed of shrubbery while the City of San Jose is scrambling to prevent people from dying of Covid. But as we emerge from the pandemic (hopefully), it’s time to get back on track.
I want to pause here for a moment to highlight the unique and tough position the City and public agencies have been in. Many San Jose employees have been reassigned to Covid duty and it’s been exhausting for them. A big thank you to all of our public servants and frontline workers who have been making sure that, while we’re out riding our bikes, Covid didn’t and isn’t doing even more harm than it could have.
All that said, patience has grown thin, especially with a new complication – cars on the trails. Some of you have almost gotten hit on the Guadalupe trail and someone is going to get hurt.
Trail quality is not new, but Covid exacerbated the failings of our society, a society that overlooks the real problems borne of a callous economic system that exploits and then blames those who are most in need. As we emerge from the pandemic, it is time to work together to make sure that the trail system is one that is a fantastic experience for all users. Below is an overview of a few trail quality initiatives as well as opportunities to get involved.
In December of 2020, SVBC sent a letter expressing concerns about trail quality in conjunction with a City Council study session on these issues. That letter is linked is here: Trail Safety Letter 201203
As a result of this and MANY other efforts, the City is expanding and creating several programs to make the trails and riparian corridors a true community asset. Those programs involve many partners like the San Jose Conservation Corps, and the Guadalupe Park Conservancy through things like the Trail Safety Patrol. Plus, ongoing and bolstered efforts to build housing with partners like Destination Home. Other programs and efforts are detailed below.
Housing: SVBC as an organization and as a collection of individuals must get more involved in root causes. As we’ve written about here and here, we all need to support efforts to build affordable housing. This is as simple as showing up to community meetings in your neighborhood or shooting a quick note to your councilmembers saying yes to housing. For funzies, wear your bike helmet so they know that we in the bike movement are truly committed to achieving the first part of our mission – to create a better community (through the everyday use of the bicycle.) As an aside, the bike community is vast from the parent riding to the library, the restaurant worker riding to work, and the unhoused for whom the bike is a primary mode of transportation. You can read a previous blog on that here.
There are soooo many efforts going on to get more housing built like:
Emergency Interim Housing Programs (EIH) are temporary housing programs for homeless San José residents. Recently, the City built three new EIH communities, two serving single adults and couples and the third serving families. A new, fourth EIH will be constructed at 702 Guadalupe Parkway, a City-owned parking Lot E adjacent to the San José Police station in downtown (east side of Hwy 87 from the Guadalupe River Park) on or around Spring 2022. A target population for the next EIH may be; a) occupants of a pre-determined homeless encampment(s), and b) participants in the SJ Bridge Program. Locations for any future EIHs are to be determined.
There’s a project currently being pursued in Downtown San Jose to convert an old motel into housing for homeless individuals. As always, these types of communities face lots of opposition. You can read about it here and see the letter SVBC sent in reference to the project here: Cars on Trails 211020
Again, cars on the trails are a symptom of a society that does not have enough affordable housing. Please support housing in your community.
San Jose Bridge: SJ Bridge started in 2018 with $200,000 in funding for 25 part-time job training positions with local non-profits as a way to bridge unhoused members of our community with job training opportunities–all while helping to beautify San José. Since its launch, the program has grown to fund 50 positions that are re-hired when an individual obtains full-time employment elsewhere.
Elements of the program include:
Litter clean-up and beautification projects that employ unhoused San José residents to pick up trash in encampments and along trails,
Support and training for living wage employment,
And a combination of employment with housing support by leveraging the City’s emergency interim housing.
In the City’s budget, this program is being dramatically expanded while also using $1.6 million in American Rescue Plan funding. The City is currently finalizing the implementation of this expanded program. For more information click here.
Litter Clean-up Crews: Another element includes the Litter Clean-up Crews Program. The Litter Clean-up Crews Program will coordinate with other City departments, particularly the Departments of Parks, Recreation, and Neighborhood Services and Transportation, to identify “hotspots” and share resources and coordinate routes and activities with BeautifySJ, homeless outreach teams, Keep Coyote Creek Beautiful, South Bay Clean Creeks Coalition, the Trash Punx, and other partners as specified by the City.
SVBC Trail Clean Ups: Not knowing how long the City would be unable to address these issues, SVBC had decided to move forward on its own. We applied for and secured grant funding from Valley Water to organize bike ride trail clean-up days. SVBC just hired three new program team members who are ramping up and putting the organization’s social ride series together. If you’d like to come on one of these ride and trail clean up days, please contact Ellen@bikesiliconvalley.org or Eleni@bikesiliconvalley.org. (Yes, we at SVBC have staff named Eleni and Ellen. We also have a Diana and a Deanna just to keep ourselves on our toes/pedals.)
Murals! You all remember the mural rides? Well, there are even more murals to come as a way to continue to activate and enhance the Guadalupe Trail. Information about that is here.
For those of you who want to get involved, here are a few ways:
Volunteer for a trail clean up day/bike ride with SVBC by letting Ellen know you’re interested. ellen@bikesiliconvalley.org
Or volunteer to clean up the trails with another organization like Keep Coyote Creek Beautiful and Friends of Five Wounds Trail. Or this one with the Guadalupe Park Conservancy. Find out more about a vision of the Guadalupe.
And, support affordable housing solutions. Get involved with SV@Home, read up on the issue with Destination Home’s resources chime in on Nextdoor when folks say unsupportive things about affordable housing, and show up at your community meetings to say yes to housing.
As you can see, there is a lot going on to enhance our beloved trails. Thanks again for your grace as we’ve been navigating a unique and hopefully once in a lifetime event.
