By Khalida Sarwari
Residents can expect to see a lot of activity early next year along Prospect Road, where the city of Saratoga is on the brink of starting a long-awaited $4.8 million beautification and safety project.
The project is expected to provide traffic calming features and road safety by physically reducing the width of the road, channeling cars into defined turn lanes, reducing the threat of cars crossing the center lane and creating safer pedestrian crossings. Construction will begin early next year and take 10 to 12 months to complete.
As part of the project, crews will install 16 landscaped medians along the 1.9-mile long stretch of Prospect Road between every intersection from Saratoga-Sunnyvale Road to Lawrence Expressway. The majority of Prospect Road is devoid of such medians, with the exception of those between Prospect Road and Titus Avenue, which were installed about six years ago.
The work also includes the installation of new sidewalks where none exist today, specifically between Plumas Drive and Scully Avenue, between Miller and Titus avenues, and Titus Avenue and Brookglen Drive. The project also calls for the construction of ADA-compliant ramps at the intersections of Plumas, Saraglen Drive, Kristy Lane, Woodside Drive and Brookglen, as well as the repair of existing ramps.
The work includes the installation of bicycle detector loops at signalized intersections, green bike lanes at congested intersections, bus shelters and bus pads in front of Prospect High School and between Miller Avenue and Kristy Lane, and audible signals for the visually impaired at the signalized intersection of Prospect and Miller avenues.
Additional improvements will be made on Saratoga Avenue, including upgrades to the signalized intersection at Saratoga and Cox avenues and installation of audible signals for the visually impaired on that road as well as at Saratoga Avenue and Bellgrove Circle.
The section of Prospect Road where all this work is expected to be done is a four-lane major arterial with the centerline of the road forming the boundary between Saratoga and San Jose. The majority of the road doesn’t yet have landscaped medians, with the exception of existing medians between Saratoga Creek and Titus Avenue and those near Highway 85 which were installed about 35 years ago.
The project is expected to cost nearly $4.8 million, the majority of which will be paid for by a $4.2 million state grant the city was awarded two years ago. The city will pay the remaining $560,000 through an existing gas tax fund.
Along with sharing news about the project’s progress and status through videos and on Facebook and Nextdoor, the city will hold a series of open houses to give residents an opportunity to hear about the design plan for the project and ask city staff and consultants questions. The first will be held Nov. 16 from 4 to 7 p.m. at the Prospect Center, 19848 Prospect Road. The city’s design team consultants will be present at the open house, as well as civil engineering designer Bellecci & Associates, landscape architect Jeffrey Heid and the city’s traffic consultants Fehr and Peers.
Link: Prospect Road project will focus on safety and beautification
