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Fw: Agenda Item 2.16 "Guadalupe River Trail Bike Connections Plan": statement in favor of retaining Ewart Road connection
From City Clerk <[email protected]>
Date Thu 4/9/2026 9:36 AM
To Agendadesk <[email protected]>
® 3 attachments (2 MB)
IMG 20260407 153617726.jpeg; IMG 20260407 153837939 HDR.jpeg; IMG 20260407 153917949.jpeg; Office of the City Clerk I City of San Jose
200 E. Santa Clara St., Tower 14th Floor
San Jose, CA 95113
Main: 408-535-1260
Fax: 408-292-6207
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From: Bill Bushnell
Sent: Thursday, April 9, 2026 9:33 AM
To: City Clerk <[email protected]>
Subject: Agenda Item 2.16 "Guadalupe River Trail Bike Connections Plan": statement in favor of retaining Ewart Road connection
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Dear San Jose City Council:
Learn why this is important at
I commute by bicycle from Sunnyvale to downtown San Jose once or twice per week, using Central Expressway and Guadalupe River Trail.
The most convenient connection between these two arterials is the
existing bicycle route around the north end of SJC on Ewart Road. On my last couple of trips through I noticed signs had been erected warning that the route would be _permanently_ closed as of May 1, 2026. (See photos.)
Given that the County recently reworked the traffic signals at Central Expressway and De La Cruz Boulevard by installing bike-specific signalling and lane markings directing bicycle traffic to/from the Ewart Road connection, it appears illogical now to close off that connection.
Bicycle commuters traveling between downtown San Jose and cities to the west find that the Ewart Road connection is fast (most direct), safe (almost no motor traffic), and is not prone to flooding during rain events.
Please advocate for retaining this valuable bicycle commuter route between San Jose and the west county.
--
Bill Bushnell
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Fw: Public Comment on item 2.16 for San Jose City Council meeting 4/14 From City Clerk <[email protected]>
Date Fri 4/10/2026 9:06 AM
To Agendadesk <[email protected]>
Office of the City Clerk I City of San Jose
200 E. Santa Clara St., Tower 14th Floor
San Jose, CA 95113
Main: 408-535-1260
Fax: 408-292-6207
How is our service? Your feedback is appreciated!
From: Haojun Li
Sent: Friday, April 10, 2026 9:04 AM
To: City Clerk <[email protected]>
Subject: Public Comment on item 2.16 for San Jose City Council meeting 4/14 [External Email. Do not open links or attachments from untrusted sources. Learn morel You don't often get email from
Dear San Jose City Clerk,
Learn wh',' this is im12ortant
I would like this letter be included as part of the agenda packet for item 2.16 on the Consent Calendar.
Thank you.
Dear City Council Members,
I am writing to express my strong concern about the sudden posted decision to permanently close Ewert Road to bicyclists and pedestrians on May 1, 2026. As a resident of San Jose (zip code 95125), I rely on the Guadalupe River Trail to commute to and from work three times a day, and Ewert Road is a critical part of that route.
Ewert Road becomes essential whenever the underpass at US 101 and Trimble floods during the winter and spring storm season. At that time, it functions as the only safe, low traffic detour for people on bikes and on foot. The alternatives-such as Airport Parkway and Airport Boulevard-force trail oriented cyclists onto narrow bike lanes alongside fast moving vehicle traffic and add roughly 20
minutes to the trip. This is not a minor inconvenience; it is a real safety and equity issue for vulnerable road users.
The design and recent infrastructure in the area also make this closure especially confusing. The new De La Cruz interchange connects directly to this corridor, and the presence of a stop sign suggests that this access was intended to accommodate bicyclists. I see many bike commuters using Ewert Road every day, including myself.
I respectfully request the following information:
Who made the decision to permanently close Ewert Road to bicycles and pedestrians? What specific safety, security, or operational justification supports this closure? Why is the main flood‑season detour for the Guadalupe River Trail being eliminated rather than preserved or improved?
Closing the only reliable, low traffic detour during rain events undermines safe active transportation connectivity through the airport area. I urge you to keep Ewert Road open to bicyclists and pedestrians, or at the very least to publicly document and justify the decision and provide a clearly safer alternative route.
Sincerely,
Haojun Li
San José, CA 95125
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Fw: April 14, 2026 Council Meeting Agenda Item 2.16 (Ewert Road Closure in the Guadalupe River Trail Bike Connections Plan)
From City Clerk <[email protected]>
Date Fri 4/10/2026 4:20 PM
To Agendadesk <[email protected]>
Office of the City Clerk I City of San Jose
200 E. Santa Clara St., Tower 14th Floor
San Jose, CA 95113
Main: 408-535-1260
Fax: 408-292-6207
How is our service? Your feedback is appreciated!
From: Greg Ripa
Sent: Friday, April 10, 2026 4:12 PM
To: Karoly, Scott <[email protected]>
Cc: City Clerk <[email protected]> ; The Office of Mayor Matt Mahan <[email protected]> ; District 6 <[email protected]> ; Kazmierczak, Matthew ; Madou, Ramses <[email protected]>; Active.Transportation <[email protected]>; Zenk, Jessica <[email protected]>; Tran, David <[email protected]>; Castro, Karina <[email protected]>; San Jose Airport Customer Services <[email protected]> Subject: Re: April 14, 2026 Council Meeting Agenda Item 2.16 (Ewert Road Closure in the Guadalupe River Trail Bike Connections Plan)
[External Email. Do not open links or attachments from untrusted sources. Learn morel Scott,
Thank you for the response and the clarification regarding the Airport's perspective. However, I would like to highlight several points from the City's own planning documents that seem to contradict the decision to close Ewert Road:
1. The Aiq:;iort Master Plan (at this publicly available link and also here) does not include the closure of Ewert Road.
2. The Aiq;iort Master Plan's Final Environmental lmP-act ReP-ort (EIR).does not include the closure either. In fact, it cites bike lanes on Ewert Road as reasons the Master Plan does not conflict with the previous 2020 Bike Plan. Furthermore, the EIR states that the Master Plan is consistent with General Plan policy TR-2.2, noting: "The Airport has added bicycle and pedestrian facilities as
new construction occurs and demand warrants; see Section 4.17.1.2 for further discussion. Future facilities will include bicycle and pedestrian facilities where appropriate." Ewert Road is explicitly shown as both an existing pedestrian and bicycle facility in that EIR.
3. Additionally, the transportation analysis prepared by Hexagon for the EIR recommends adding sidewalks to Ewert Road (page 43), which directly contradicts the plan to close the road.
Given that these documents recognize Ewert Road as an existing and consistent part of the city's bicycle and pedestrian network, and as one reason that the Airport Master Plan complies with the General Plan, it is difficult to reconcile the Airport's current plan for its permanent closure with the City's long term planning commitments. I hope these points can be reviewed and addressed as part of the discussion at the upcoming Council meeting.
Regarding the "several collisions and security incidents involving vehicles and people walking and biking on Ewert Road, resulting in injury and/or law enforcement calls", since Ewert Road is already closed to public automobile traffic, the City’s mention of "collisions involving vehicles" is confusing. If the road is already restricted to authorized vehicles, safety incidents should be addressed with better operational protocols for maintenance and airport staff, rather than the removal of a critical detour for the Guadalupe River Trail. Further, there are also other alternatives to closing off this valuable corridor. San Jose's Vision Zero policy is the City's official response to "collisions and security incidents." Its core philosophy is that traffic fatalities and injuries are preventable through engineering countermeasures, not by removing public access. Thus, instead of closure, the City could do something similar to Hexagon Transportation Analysis recommendation by officially removing a lane and adding a protected multi use trail alongside Ewert Road. Further, perhaps as the "remaining acreage" is developed, the developer should be required to improve the safety of Ewert Road (e.g., by adding that multi use path) as a condition of approval so that the city doesn't have to spend as much money on that alternative.
Lastly, construction of a private leasehold at the Martin Ave portion of the airport should not affect the connectivity of the Ewert Road corridor between Central Expressway and the Green Island Bridge located near the economy lot at the north end of the airport along the Guadalupe River. The portion between Martin Ave and Central would indeed no longer exist and could be closed (and is generally currently closed) but the other portion would remain and should remain open not only as this detour route but also as a permanently protected, all weather connection.
Sincerely,
Greg Ripa
On Fri, Apr 10, 2026 at 2:53 PM Karoly, Scott <[email protected]> wrote:
Hi Greg,
Thank you for reaching out to us and providing clear feedback and your own detailed experience about the planned closure of Ewert Road, and how it will impact people riding bikes. We really appreciate the engaged community response to the GRT Bike Connections plan over the last 20 months. We have been getting a lot of feedback about the planned Ewert Road closure, especially since signage was placed out on the street. Thanks for your patience in awaiting my response.
Ewert Road is part of the airport facility and not designed or maintained as a public multi-modal corridor. Moreover, the decision to close Ewert Road is not tied or related to the work that went into the GRT plan, or the City Council action proposed on Tuesday, 4/14.
The closure of Ewert has been planned since before the Guadalupe River Trail Bike Connections project began. There have been several collisions and security incidents involving vehicles and people walking and biking on Ewert Road, resulting in injury and/or law enforcement calls. The Airport will be seeking bids to develop the remaining acreage on the northwest side of the airfield (along Martin Ave), which will be a private leasehold with no public access at Martin Ave. As such, once this development begins construction, Ewert Road will no longer have the utility that it currently does for people trying to detour around flooded trail segments.
If you would like to contact the Airport directly about the planned closure, they can be reached at [email protected]. Thanks again for reaching out. -Scott
Scott Karoly (He/Him)
Transportation Specialist | Department of Transportation City of San José
200 East Santa Clara Street, 8th floor
San José, CA 95113
Office: 408-975-3250
From: Greg Ripa <
Sent: Friday, April 10, 2026 10:02 AM
To: City Clerk <[email protected]>; The Office of Mayor Matt Mahan <[email protected]>; District 6 <[email protected]>
Cc: Karoly, Scott <[email protected]>; Kazmierczak, Matthew < Madou, Ramses <[email protected]>; Active.Transportation <[email protected]> Subject: April 14, 2026 Council Meeting Agenda Item 2.16 (Ewert Road Closure in the Guadalupe River Trail Bike Connections Plan)
[External Email. Do not open links or attachments from untrusted sources. Learn more] You don't often get email from Learn why this is important Mayor Mahan, Councilmember Mulcahy, and other members of the San Jose City Council, I am writing to express my strong opposition to the proposed closure of Ewert Road as part of the Guadalupe River Trail (GRT) Bike Connections Plan. While the Plan’s stated goal is to "strengthen the GRT’s resiliency through near term solutions" (Plan pg 8), the decision to close Ewert Road
CITYOF A
SANJOSE
CAPITAL OF SILICON VALLEY
Transportation
directly contradicts the City’s own safety and connectivity objectives. Further, on a more personal level, I regularly use Ewert Road as an active transportation corridor and would be disappointed at its closure.
Please pull item 2.16 from the Consent Agenda and have a discussion about this plan, particularly regarding the points below:
1. Conflicts with Safety Mandates of Vision Zero & Bike Plan. The Plan is intended to align with Vision Zero San José and the Better Bike Plan 2025 (Plan pg 18). However, by closing Ewert Road which is an established, high comfort informal detour (Plan pgs 28 and 29) and a low stress off street route, the City is forcing trail users onto what the Plan itself describes as "potentially riskier on street routes" (Plan pg 2). Rerouting cyclists to high stress, high traffic volume, and high speed arterials like Airport Parkway and North First Street increases the risk of collisions in that detour corridor.
2. Does not Implement the Plan's own Objectives. The Plan explicitly lists the following objectives for detour routes:
"Limit the number of turns and avoid circuitous routing." (Plan pg 21) "Minimize conflicts between vehicles and people walking and biking." (Plan pg 20) "Design bike and pedestrian routes that accommodate people of all ages and abilities" (Plan pg 20)
Yet, closing Ewert Rd goes against all of these. Using Ewert Rd, there is only 1 turn from Ewert to the new De La Cruz interchange bike path; using an eastern bypass, there are at least 2 to 4 turns depending on the route taken. Conflicts between vehicles and people biking increase with the closure of Ewert Rd since Ewert Rd and the De La Cruz Bike Path are completely closed to cars; the only potential conflicts come at the entrances and crossing the De La Cruz/ Central intersection whereas any eastern detour is all on street which is nothing but potential conflicts. Using paths and Ewert Rd is better for people of all ages and abilities since they are closed to vehicles whereas the eastern detours are high stress routes that are not as conducive to walking and cycling.
3. Ewert Road is a better detour. Ewert Road is a direct, off street connection that avoids the "undesirable choices" community members identified during engagement, such as crossing high volume roads with insufficient bike facilities (Memo pg 3). Closing Ewert Road in favor of a longer, multi turn street detour is a failure of the Plan's own goals and community outreach intentions. Vision Zero San José policy mandates the elimination of all traffic fatalities and severe injuries. Rerouting trail users onto high speed and high traffic volume arterials like Airport Parkway, North First Street, and Trimble Road increases the danger to cyclists and pedestrians.
4. It's logically Inconsistent to close Ewert Rd. The Plan acknowledges that the US 101 undercrossing is a major flooding hotspot (Plan pgs 14, 22, 28, & 54) but categorizes it as a "challenging area" (plan pg 5) to be addressed through future "partnerships". Further the Plan acknowledges that "this undercrossing poses a unique challenge because there are no immediate connecting roads for pedestrians and cyclists" (Plan pg 54) which isn't entirely true since Ewert Rd exists and is open to cyclists today. It is logically inconsistent for the City to defer critical improvements at US 101 due to jurisdictional complexity while simultaneously choosing to close Ewert Road, a City controlled asset that currently serves as a vital detour for that exact segment.
5. Closing Ewert Rd Disregards Community Engagement. During Phase 3 Engagement, participants expressed a clear "preference for shorter/more direct detours" and supported having "multiple options available" (Plan pg 22). Ewert Road is the shortest and most intuitive 0 0
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bypass for the area. Removing it reduces the redundancy that the Bicycle and Pedestrian Advisory Committee (BPAC) specifically requested to ensure trail utility (The BPAC provided input to coordinate "with partner agencies to deliver projects outside of this Plan’s scope; and [create] redundancy in the proposed concept designs to ensure that the simplest, shortest detours are included." (Memo pg 7)) Ewert Rd is the shortest and most direct route for a detour, saving about half a mile compared to the higher stress Airport, First, and Trimble detour.
6. Closing Ewert Road goes against General Plan strategies, goals, and policies.
General Plan Goal TR-1 states that the City should "complete and maintain a multimodal transportation system that gives priority to the mobility needs of bicyclists" and Goal TR-2 states that the City should "improve walking and bicycling facilities to be more convenient, comfortable, and safe, so that they become primary transportation modes"; closing Ewert Road, a route taken by bicyclists today, does not maintain that system and makes the detour routes less convenient, comfortable, and safe.
General Plan Policy TR-9.3 states that the City should "enhance the overall travel experience of.. pedestrians, bicyclists... to encourage mode shift" and closing this detour would lessen the experience due to the high stress nature of the other detour alternatives.
In Major Strategy #10 - Life Amidst Abundant Natural Resources, the City aims to promote access to the natural environment and a favorable climate as important strengths for San José by building a world-class trail network; but it's hard to have a world class trail network that floods routinely and have solutions to challenging areas ignored due to jurisdictional issues.
General Plan Policy TN-2.3 goes on to state that the City should "add and maintain necessary infrastructure to facilitate the use of trails as transportation." Closing Ewert Road as a detour to regular winter flooding is not maintaining the necessary infrastructure to facilitate the use of trails as transportation since Ewert Road is the safest and most direct alternative when the 101 underpass is closed due to flooding.
Similarly, General Plan Policy TN-3.3 requests that the City "provide safe and secure routes for trails and to minimize at-grade intersections with roadways", which the existing detour combination of Ewert Road and the De La Cruz interchange path do well, whereas any other detour route decreases the safety of cyclists and pedestrians and increases the use of at-grade intersections (2 intersections on the Ewert detour vs 7 or more intersections on the eastern detour routes).
Request: For the reasons stated above, I urge the City Council to remove the closure of Ewert Road from the Guadalupe River Trail Bike Connections Plan and direct all City Departments to keep the road open. Ideally, the City should also utilize its jurisdiction to formalize Ewert Road as a protected, all weather connection. We should not compromise the safety of this detour by trading this existing low stress route for high stress, high speed, and high traffic volume street detours.
Sincerely,
Greg Ripa
Midtown San Jose
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Fw: 2.16 Guadalupe River Trail Bike Connection Plan and Ewert Road connection From City Clerk <[email protected]>
Date Mon 4/13/2026 7:52 AM
To Agendadesk <[email protected]>
Office of the City Clerk I City of San Jose
200 E. Santa Clara St., Tower 14th Floor
San Jose, CA 95113
Main: 408-535-1260
Fax: 408-292-6207
How is Olll' service? Yolll' feedback is appreciated!
From: Robert Neff
Sent: Saturday, April 11, 2026 9:21AM
To: City Clerk <[email protected]>
Cc: Active.Transportation <[email protected]> Subject: 2.16 Guadalupe River Trail Bike Connection Plan and Ewert Road connection [External Email. Do not open links or attachments from untrusted sources. Learn more<httP-s:l/aka.ms/LearnAboutSenderldentification>]
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Honorable San Jose City Council,
cc: San Jose Department of Transportation
I am resending, and adding that this pertains to Item 2.16 "Guadalupe River Trail Bike Connections Plan." on the consent calendar for the 4/14 City Council meeting.
I am glad to see the effort made to improve access along the Guadalupe River Trail (GRD to enable more convenient, and safe use of the trail when the river floods the trail. Unfortunately the plan includes
closure of the connection from Ewert Road at the Airport to the intersection at Central / Trimble / De La Cruz. This will unnecessarily degrade the bicycle network. That connection is currently used year round, and not just for GRT traffic during flooding. The closure is on page 28 of the staff report.
In particular, the Airport presents a barrier for east-west travel across San Jose. I have often used the pass-through in the fence at Ewert Road to connect to Central Expressway, and then to Scott in Santa Clara, a reasonably direct way to get to Sunnyvale, Mountain View and Palo Alto from the GRT, or from other destinations near the GRT like the county courthouse, or downtown San Jose.
It would be possible to make this connection using the GRT and Trimble Road, but that is significantly (0.8 miles) longer. Maintaining Ewert Road as a low stress connection around the airport is a feature that should not be thrown away.
I hope you will remove this from the consent agenda, and pass this plan, with an amendment from council to not close this connection without further study by the San Jose and Santa Clara BPACs of the closure implications.
Thank you for your work for your city and our region.
Robert Neff
Palo Alto
I am a member of the VTA BPAC, which advises on
--
-- Robert Neff
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Fw: Guadalupe River Trail Bike Connection Plan and Ewert Road connection From City Clerk <[email protected]>
Date Mon 4/13/2026 7:53 AM
To Agendadesk <[email protected]>
Office of the City Clerk I City of San Jose
200 E. Santa Clara St., Tower 14th Floor
San Jose, CA 95113
Main: 408-535-1260
Fax: 408-292-6207
How is Olll' service? Yolll' feedback is appreciated!
From: Robert Neff
Sent: Friday, April 10, 2026 9:50 PM
To: City Clerk <[email protected]>
Subject: Guadalupe River Trail Bike Connection Plan and Ewert Road connection [External Email. Do not open links or attachments from untrusted sources. Learn more<httP-s://aka.ms/LearnAboutSenderldentification>]
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Honorable San Jose City Council,
I am glad to see the effort made to improve access along the Guadalupe River Trail (GRT) to enable more convenient, and safe use of the trail when the river floods the trail. Unfortunately the plan includes closure of the connection from Ewert Road at the Airport to the intersection at Central/ Trimble/ De La Cruz. This will unnecessarily degrade the bicycle network. That connection is currently used year round, and not just for GRT traffic during flooding. It is on page 28 of the staff report.
In particular, the Airport presents a barrier for east-west travel
across San Jose. I have often used the pass-through in the fence at Ewert Road to connect to Central Expressway, and then to Scott in Santa Clara, a reasonably direct way to get to Sunnyvale, Mountain View and Palo Alto from the GRT, or from other destinations near the GRT like the county courthouse, or downtown San Jose.
It would be possible to make this connection using the GRT and Trimble Road, but that is significantly (0.8 miles) longer. Maintaining Ewert Road as a low stress connection around the airport is a feature that should not be thrown away.
I hope you will remove this from the consent agenda, and pass this plan, with an amendment from council to not close this connection without further study by the San Jose and Santa Clara BPACs of the closure implications.
Thank you for your work for your city and our region.
Robert Neff
Palo Alto
-- Robert Neff
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Fw: Save SJC Ewert Road for cyclist detours around GRT flooding - Public Comment on Item 2.16 for Council 4/14
From City Clerk <[email protected]>
Date Tue 4/14/2026 8:24 AM
To Agendadesk <[email protected]>
@ 1 attachment (9 MB)
Save SJC Ewert Road for cyclist detours around GRT flooding Public Comment on Item 2.16 for Council 4 14.pdf; Office of the City Clerk I City of San Jose
200 E. Santa Clara St., Tower 14th Floor
San Jose, CA 95113
Main: 408-535-1260
Fax: 408-292-6207
How is our service? Your feedback is appreciated !
From: Jordan Moldow
Sent: Tuesday, April 14, 2026 7:58 AM
To: City Clerk <city.clerk@sanjoseca .gov>
Subject: Save SJC Ewert Road for cyclist detours around GRT flooding - Public Comment on Item 2.16 for Council 4/14
[External Email. Do not open links or attachments from untrusted sources. Learn morel Please include the attached PDF as a Public Comment on Item 2.16 for Council 4/14.
Thanks,
Jordan Moldow
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Honorable Mayor and City Council,
The 35 undersigned residents and neighbors urge San José to create and maintain safe, convenient flood detours along the Guadalupe River Trail (GRT), including the existing route that uses the SJC perimeter road Ewert Road to detour around the US‑101 underpass.
The Guadalupe River Trail is the pride of San José's bike network, beloved by residents and neighbors alike. It connects Downtown San José, Guadalupe River Park, SJC, North San José, Alviso, and the Bay Trail along miles of scenic, car-free paths used annually by over 433,000 users — bike commuters, recreational cyclists, joggers, walkers, nature enthusiasts, and more.
When its underpasses flood, commuters are usually left with only bad options: miss their commitment, take a long detour, take an unsafe detour, or go through the floodwater. This plan would create meaningful safety improvements for quick detours at Trimble and Tasman, and improve wayfinding near Highway 237.
One great detour already exists: when the US-101 underpass floods, cyclists can take Ewert Road and the new car-free path across the 101/Trimble interchange. The newly reconfigured intersection at De La Cruz and Central Expressway was designed with this detour in mind.
Strava data and feedback at public engagement sessions indicate that this route is well-used and relied upon in rainy months (search for "Ewert" in Appendix B: Community Engagement Reports). Despite this, the plan notes "Ewert Road is planned to be closed to bikes," and in fact the community has noticed recent signage that indicates the route will be closed on May 1, 2026.
While we understand that this GRT plan is only acknowledging a prior decision, we still believe it is important to reverse this decision while adopting this plan. The plan excludes addressing the US-101 underpass "due to the Plan's focus on streets that are within the jurisdiction of the City of San José. A longer-term solution should consider both locations holistically, understanding that crossing Highway 101 would be a larger project." But Highway 101 already has a great detour, does not need a large project, and it is in fact a City decision — regarding a street within the City's jurisdiction — that is about to destroy this detour. By the plan's own parameters, the future of Ewert Road is absolutely within scope.
The closure of this vital connection is not some immutable truth. It can and should be changed.
We wish for the City Council and staff to recognize the value of changing the plan for Ewert Road, and revise the current plans to keep the route open.
Not doing so will cut the GRT in half during rainy seasons, make the trail unreliable as a commuting route for months at a time, and force vulnerable users onto narrow bike lanes alongside fast-moving vehicle traffic, adding significantly longer detours to cross US-101 at interchanges that do not facilitate safe bicycle crossing. We are unaware of any plans that will come to fruition in the next ten years to improve the interchange at Airport Parkway, and the plans that do exist for the US-101/Zanker/Fourth Street Interchange Project (a substantially further detour) call for unprotected and/or no bike infrastructure on most of Zanker, Brokaw, Bering, and First St.
Closing Ewert Road will sever a safe, low-traffic, well-used, and short detour with no equivalent replacement in the foreseeable future. Cyclists who need to cross Highway 101 during flooding will face significantly longer and less safe alternatives for years to come. We urge the Council to direct staff to change the plan.
Thank you for your consideration,
District 1
Bob Edmonds
District 2
Tuan Tu
District 6
Haojun Li
Devin Wilder
Anthony Flores
Greg Ripa
Mikhail Haurylau
Martin Delson
City of Santa Clara
Diane Harrison
Kevin Wang
Sheila Stevens
Dustin Harber
Betsy Megas
Jared Smolens
District 3
Jordan Moldow, BPAC Chair
Ann Wawrose
Natalia Cortes
Nick Laskowski
Eamonn Gormley
Karen Gauss, County Roads
Commissioner and VTA
BPAC Member
City of Sunnyvale
Sharlene Liu
Mark Hlady
Bill Bushnell
Amy Hewett
Tim Oey
Jeff Rossel
Curt Relick
City of Saratoga
Chinlee Wang
City of Mountain View
Bruce England
Terry Barton
Eugene Cordero
City of Cupertino
gary virshup
City of Morgan Hill
Bob Aochi
City of Palo Alto
Robert Neff
City of Los Altos
Jeffery L Nilles
All individuals are speaking in their personal capacity.
Current detour utilizing Ewert Road (SJC perimeter road) and the 101/Trimble interchange multi-use path.
All segments of this detour are either car-free, separated from cars, or low volume. \ g /""'
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Street view of connection point to Ewert Road, from De La Cruz Blvd and Central Expressway. The markings and paint were added as part of the US 101/De La Cruz Boulevard/Trimble Road Interchange Improvements Project, as can be seen here. Note the bi-directional crossbike, the bike signal heads, and the STOP / “Stop before entering” signs. Also note the lack of present-day bikeway on De La Cruz Blvd.
This connection is solely for Ewert Road.
Strava heatmap near SJC and the Guadalupe corridor, April 2026.
Posted notice at the corridor, April 2026.
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Letter on today's council items (2.16) and from BPAC - GRT support letter From Madou, Ramses <[email protected]>
Date Tue 4/14/2026 8:48 AM
To Agendadesk <[email protected]>; Agenda Services <[email protected]> 1 attachment (326 KB)
BPAC Letter of Support for GRT Bike Connections April 2026_SIGNED.docx; Good morning,
We have a couple letters from our Bicycle and Pedestrian Advisory Committee on today’s council item
2.16. Can you add them to the agenda?
Ramses Madou
Division Manager Planning, Policy, and Sustainability | Department of Transportation City of San Jose
200 East Santa Clara Street, 8th floor
San José, CA 95113
Desk:408-975-3283 | Cell:650-924-1237
City of San José
Bicycle and Pedestrian Advisory Committee
April 6th, 2026
City of San José
200 E. Santa Clara Street
San Jose, CA 95113
TO: San José City Council; City Clerk’s Office; John Ristow, Director of Transportation CC: Jessica Zenk, Deputy Director, Planning and Policy Division; Scott Karoly, Project Manager
RE: BPAC support for GRT Bike Connections Plan - City Council agenda April 14, 2026 Recommendations
The San José Bicycle and Pedestrian Advisory Committee (BPAC)1 recommends the City Council consider and take action to:
1. Approve staff recommendations, and adopt the final Guadalupe River Trail Bike Connections Plan.
2. Amend relevant plans to allow Ewert Road to remain open to cyclists in perpetuity.
3. Address drainage and mud-cleaning issues on river trails.
4. Work with the County to secure improvements to Montague Expressway at GRT.
Analysis
BPAC supports this Plan because it continues the City’s efforts to build out an all-ages-and-abilities bicycling network that promotes safety, equity, and bicycle transportation mode shift. The Plan advances implementation recommendations from the Council-adopted Move San José Plan 2: “Enhance
Bike Connectivity”, “Fill Gaps in Trails and Sidewalks”, “Low Stress Bike Facilities”. It also advances policy recommendations from the Council-adopted Better Bike Plan 2025 3: “Publicize street and
bikeway closures and establish safe detour routes”, “Make trails accessible 24 hours a day”, and “Implement a wayfinding system”.
The banks of the Guadalupe River are engineered by Valley Water to contain stormwater from annual winter storms. The Guadalupe River Trail (GRT) sits on the engineered embankment, providing Valley Water with an access road to the flood control infrastructure, and serving the dual purpose of providing a multi-use path for commuting and recreation. The path/access road follows the river underneath a dozen bridges, and in several locations the trail descends low enough to be within reach of typical winter stormwater.
It is intentional and unavoidable for these undercrossings to flood, but it does create a hardship for bicycle commuters who rely on the GRT to travel between home, work, and other commitments. These riders are faced with three poor options: take very long detours; take short treacherous detours along unsafe arterials with insufficient protection for cyclists; or make the dangerous and ill-advised gamble to roll through the flood water.
1 https://www.sanjoseca.gov/your-government/departments-offices/transportation/walking-biking/bicycle- pedestrian-advisory-committee – Homepage – Bicycle and Pedestrian Advisory Committee – City of San José 2 https://storymaps.arcgis.com/stories/096082d53c5c4e5baf9eb6afe15a1f0f - Move San José Plan 3 https://www.sanjoseca.gov/home/showpublisheddocument/68962/637477999451470000 - Better Bike Plan 2025
SAN JOSE BICYCLE AND PEDESTRIAN ADVISORY COMMITTEE
April 6, 2026
This Plan sets the stage for the City to create a fourth, superior option: take short detours along safe complete streets with sufficient protection for cyclists. This is critical for the trail riding community, and also for any other cyclist riding along the street segments that will be improved. On behalf of the constituents we represent, BPAC is eager to see this Plan move forward.
Follow-Up
Creation of this Plan was funded by a Caltrans Sustainable Transportation Planning Grant and local matching funds. Despite local budget shortfalls, we are hopeful that there will be continued statewide and regional interest in funding Project implementation through grants. Appendix C has a list of ten external funding options.
Closely related to this Plan are two additional items we wish to bring to the attention of the City Council:
1. Ewert Road should remain open to cyclists. Cyclists currently use Ewert Road and Airport Boulevard to detour around flooding at both Trimble Road and Highway 101 (see "Trimble Road Flood Detour Concept" and Appendix B). This detour works well thanks to the US-101/Trimble/De La Cruz interchange project
4, provides protection for cyclists, and only adds about 0.9 miles.
However, the GRT Bike Connections Plan notes that "Ewert Road is planned to be closed to bikes following the final completion of the US-101/Trimble/De La Cruz interchange project." During the online public review of the Draft Plan, the most common piece of feedback — shared by a majority of speakers — was that Ewert Road needs to remain open to cyclists. The BPAC calls on the City Council, DOT, and Airport Department to identify the plan(s) that would close Ewert Road to bikes and amend them to allow bikes in perpetuity.
2. Drainage and mud-cleaning issues should be addressed. As BPAC reported to T&E in October 2025
5, underpasses along our river trails regularly remain slick and muddy for weeks after storms, and some remain submerged due to drainage issues. This creates liability for the City and discourages winter trail use. This GRT Bike Connections Plan is needed for resilience during floods, while the drainage and mud-cleaning improvements are needed for normal winter operation of the trail.
3. Improvements to Montague Expressway at GRT should be built. The undercrossing at Montague Expressway is a common flooding location, with no safe detour. Work with the County to secure improvements.
4 https://www.vta.org/projects/us-101de-la-cruz-boulevardtrimble-road-interchange-improvements – Project Homepage – US 101/De La Cruz Boulevard/Trimble Road Interchange Improvements – VTA 5 Attachment A within https://sanjose.legistar.com/View.ashx?M=F&ID=14821047&GUID=ABB32019- 5BAA- 4FF0-B976-F4E1FDCE8FD5 – Bicycle and Pedestrian Advisory Committee Report to the Transportation and Environment Committee
SAN JOSE BICYCLE AND PEDESTRIAN ADVISORY COMMITTEE
April 6, 2026
Conclusion
Thank you for the opportunity to comment on this Plan. We’d also like to extend our gratitude to Scott Karoly and his teammates in DOT and PRNS, the members of the Technical Advisory Committee, and the Consultant teams: Toole Design, Arup, and Winter Consulting. We appreciate the work that went into the Plan and the community engagement, which included steady progress and multiple public checkpoints throughout 2025. We hope you will adopt the Plan.
Sincerely,
Jordan Moldow, Chairperson
About BPAC: The Bicycle and Pedestrian Advisory Committee advises the Department of Transportation (DOT) on issues affecting active transportation in San José. BPAC provides recommendations on projects, policies, and priorities affecting walking and biking; acts as a liaison to the community; and promotes safety and community involvement. BPAC has adopted policy positions that include:
• belief in human-centered mobility that supports people getting places safely; • prioritization of the Move San José goals for walking, biking, and active transportation; • support for safe and direct transportation for all modes.