By Khalida Sarwari
The final design for a project to replace two 100-year-old bridges on Quito Road near the intersection of Old Adobe Road will go before the Saratoga City Council for approval later this month.
The council will have an opportunity to review and discuss the final design presented to them on Aug. 20, according to Macedonio Nunez, an associate engineer for the city.
Since the preliminary design was released last fall, the city has held a number of meetings and open houses–the most recent one taking place July 29–to address concerns raised by residents who live in the Quito Road area, prominent among them traffic concerns related to the straightening of Quito Road and the removal of 22 old-growth trees during the widening process.
City officials and project consultants addressed both of those concerns at the open house, which was attended by just over a dozen people, according to Nunez. The design has been updated to show that only 18 trees will be lost, all of which will be replaced near the bridge site and not at La Rinconada Park in Los Gatos as had been planned, said Nunez.
Nunez and the city’s public works director, John Cherbone, also revealed traffic control plans that include two detour routes, one regional and one local. The regional route takes drivers from Highway 9 to Saratoga, and while it’s a longer distance it has a shorter travel time, whereas the local route into Los Gatos is shorter in distance but has a longer travel time.
Bridge replacement would necessitate the closure of Quito Road and rerouting traffic during the approximately six- to nine-month construction period. Construction is projected to start date in April 2016.
“Both bridges will be demolished and constructed at the same time,” Nunez said.
The purpose of the project, he said, is to make the bridges more seismically sound and bring them up to state design standards. The plan is to replace the existing bridges with two two-lane bridges that meet Caltrans safety standards. Both bridges will be widened to include shoulders and elevated: One will be 2 feet higher, while the other will be 4 feet higher.
The new bridges have a similar alignment to the existing bridges, although the approaches leading to the bridge structures will require slight roadway realignment.
Because the bridges cross the Los Gatos-Saratoga boundary and San Tomas Aquino Creek, Saratoga, Los Gatos and the Santa Clara Valley Water District have entered into a cooperative agreement to facilitate the work. The project has received $4.7 million in federal funding, but each agency must pay a third of the local match for each of the three phases, which amounts to 20 percent for the first phase and 11.47 percent for the last two phases.
Earlier this summer, city officials also met with residents that live in six adjacent privately owned parcels adjoining the existing right of way to discuss with them the aesthetics of the new bridge railing and how they’d be impacted by the elevation difference, Nunez said.
Once the design is finalized, the second phase of the project will begin this fall and entail the acquisition of necessary rights-of-way, according to Nunez.
For more information, visit saratoga.ca.us and click on “What’s New,” then click “Current Projects” and look for the Quito Road Bridges heading.
Final design for Quito Road Bridges Project goes to city council
