TO: HONORABLE MAYOR
AND CITY COUNCIL
FROM: John Ristow
SUBJECT: Guadalupe River Trail Bike
Connections Plan
DATE: March 23, 2026
Approved Date:
4/2/26
CO
UNCIL DISTRICTS: 3, 4, 6
RE
COMMENDATION
A
dopt a resolution approving the Guadalupe River Trail Bike Connections Plan.
S
UMMARY AND OUTCOME
T
he Guadalupe River Trail (GRT) is an 11-mile north-south Class I trail and the backbone of San José’s active transportation network. However, low points on the trail at major undercrossings are heavily impacted by seasonal weather and are frequently rendered impassable due to standing water, mud, and debris. Because many of these segments double as Valley Water flood control infrastructure, raising the trail elevation is not feasible in many places.
I
n response to community feedback, the Department of Transportation (DOT) conducted a 20-month planning process to develop high-quality, on-street detours. The Guadalupe River Trail Bike Connections Plan (Plan) proposes design interventions near three critical flood-prone undercrossings to ensure year-round connectivity without replacing or delaying future on-trail improvements.
BACKG
ROUND
Th
e City is implementing the City Council-adopted Better Bike Plan 2025 (Bike Plan) to make bicycling safe and convenient for people of all ages and abilities. The Bike Plan outlines a vision for a safe and connected network of on-street bikeways that will empower people of all ages and abilities to travel by bike. Providing seamless connections between the city’s on-street bikeways into its off-street trail network is a key recommendation of the Bike Plan.
COUNCIL AGENDA: 4/14/26
FILE: 26-4 11
ITEM: 2.16
HONORABLE MAYOR AND CITY COUNCIL
March 23, 2026
Subject: Guadalupe River Trail Bike Connections Plan
With the opening of the Guadalupe River Park in 2005 and the completion of the trail north to Alviso in 2013, the GRT has seen significant increases in use, with over 433,000 annual users in 2025. The City partners with Valley Water to operate publicly accessible trails as a City service on Valley Water’s levees and flood control infrastructure. Raising the trail would require major modifications to flood control infrastructure and, in many locations, require raising adjacent street intersections to maintain accessible connections. These improvements would require a long-term, multi- agency effort, and could affect flood protection and Americans with Disabilities Act accessibility.
Increased trail use has led to greater community reliance on the trail as a safe and convenient route for transportation and recreation purposes. The 2024 Annual Trail Count indicated that nearly 30% of GRT users primarily use the trail for commuting; when numerous sections of the GRT flood, depositing debris, mud, and silt onto the trail, this creates regular, lengthy disruptions for trail users.
Figure 1: Flooded section of the GRT under Highway 237. (Image Source: Tim Oey)
Figure 2: Flooded section of the GRT south of Highway 101. (Image Source: Richard Masoner)
HONORABLE MAYOR AND CITY COUNCIL
March 23, 2026
Subject: Guadalupe River Trail Bike Connections Plan
Feedback from members of the San José Bicycle and Pedestrian Advisory Committee (BPAC) and members of the public emphasized the impact of flooding events, which typically occur at underpasses where the trail goes below arterial streets, highways, and expressways. During the engagement process for the Plan, as well as in previous communications with the City, many community members reported the need to navigate various undesirable choices during flood events, such as riding through water and mud, detouring on the streets with insufficient bike facilities, or crossing streets at grade without safe, dedicated crossings. Figures 1 and 2 above show examples of flooded sections of the GRT. When people riding bikes must make these choices, they are faced with a significant barrier to bicycling. Community members have requested that the City address this issue.
ANALYSIS
Plan Goals
The Plan’s three main goals are:
• Transportation Safety – provide safe ways for people walking and biking to navigate around flooded trail segments;
• Multimodal Connectivity – provide a convenient on-street network for people to complete their journey when sections of the GRT are flooded; and • Wayfinding and Placemaking – preserve the comfort and ease of GRT trail users when taking alternate on-street routes.
In addition to the Bike Plan, this Plan is informed by and designed to support the goals and strategies in the following City Council-adopted plans:
• Envision San José 2040 General Plan (2011, updated 2025): promote San José as a walking- and bicycling-first city by providing and prioritizing funding for projects that enhance and improve bicycle and pedestrian facilities. • Vision Zero San José (2015, updated 2025): eliminate traffic fatalities and severe injuries.
• Trail Program Strategic Plan (2016): functionality of the trail network is supported by the development of an on-street bikeway system. • Climate Smart San José (2018): achieve 20% of trips by bike by 2050; create clean, personalized mobility choices.
• Move San José (2022): enhance bike connectivity; make signals work better for people walking or biking.
HONORABLE MAYOR AND CITY COUNCIL
March 23, 2026
Subject: Guadalupe River Trail Bike Connections Plan
Project Recommendations:
The Plan recommends three targeted design interventions that create safe, convenient detour connections around flooding hotspots along the GRT as an immediate next step, along with a set of broader recommendations along the rest of the corridor. Selection criteria for these projects will be discussed in the following section.
• Trimble Road Detour: The Trimble Road detour proposes a new, signalized crossing connecting the GRT trailheads on either side of Trimble to address the unsignalized crossing across the high-volume four-lane arterial. This detour also proposes upgraded, bidirectional protected bikeways that better connect the GRT to the fully separated bikeway built as part of the US 101 / De La Cruz Boulevard / Trimble Road Interchange Improvements project. By offering redundant connections, these improvements would allow users to either immediately re-enter the GRT or more safely access their destinations west of the trail. •
• Tasman Drive Detour: The Tasman Drive detour recommends new shared-use paths that connect to an upgraded crossing of Tasman Drive and the light rail tracks at Renaissance Drive to connect GRT trailheads. This concept also includes an enhanced crossing one block east at Vista Montaña, which would allow users to more safely access destinations east of the trail.
• Highway 237 Wayfinding: The Plan recommends a series of wayfinding signs to help users navigate between the Alviso community and the GRT access point at Highway 237. This concept introduces a wayfinding strategy that could be employed elsewhere to help facilitate biking on the street network adjacent to the GRT.
For greater detail on these three projects and how they would interface with existing facilities, see Attachment, the full Guadalupe River Trail Bike Connections plan.
Additional Recommendations:
The Plan also makes recommendations for places where the City could strengthen detour routes by implementing protected bicycle and pedestrian facilities on key corridors, adding trail access points, and closing network gaps in 16 additional locations. These locations include Montague Expressway and Highway 101, which fall outside of the jurisdiction of the City and would require multi-agency coordination. Flood data and pointed community feedback spoke to the necessity of including recommendations for these two locations. For the complete list of additional recommendations, see Attachment - Guadalupe River Trail Bike Connections Plan dated March 10, 2026.
HONORABLE MAYOR AND CITY COUNCIL
March 23, 2026
Subject: Guadalupe River Trail Bike Connections Plan
Project Selection
To select the priority locations for developing the three proposed projects, the Plan uses an evaluation framework based on the City’s goals and priorities, community input, and transportation planning best practices. The following criteria were used to prioritize the locations discussed in the Plan:
• Community Input;
• City of San José level of influence;
• Synergy with the Connect North San José plan (in development); • Level of complexity;
• User volume/patterns;
• Bike network gap closure opportunity or alignment with other projects; and • Known detour routes.
DOT staff, in conjunction with Toole Design Group, Arup, and Winter Consultants, completed a detailed existing conditions analysis of flooding conditions on the GRT.
This analysis, combined with in-depth feedback recorded during a series of engagement efforts, allowed the project team to narrow in on the most impactful flooding hotspots along the GRT.
This engagement included meeting with the project’s Technical Advisory Committee (TAC), a group comprising partner agency members and representatives from other City departments. The TAC helped to ensure the Plan’s development was aligned with the work and mission of the numerous stakeholders along the GRT. In addition to the TAC, engagement included presenting to BPAC, hosting pop-up engagement events alongside the trail, and conducting an online survey of GRT users. Projects located entirely within the City right-of-way were given additional precedence due to the relative ease of implementation. This project prioritizes locations where change can be made in the near term to help people walk and bike as soon as possible.
Table 1 shows which flooding locations were noted during various forms of engagement.
HONORABLE MAYOR AND CITY COUNCIL
March 23, 2026
Subject: Guadalupe River Trail Bike Connections Plan
Table 1: Flooding Locations by Engagement Strategy
Location TAC #1 BPAC #1 Pop-Ups Survey
Existing
Conditions
Report
Highway 237 X X X
Tasman Dr X X X
Montague Ex X X X X
Trimble Rd X X X X
Highway 101 X X X X
Airport Pkwy X
Highway 880 / Hedding St X
Taylor St X
Guadalupe River Park X X
Coleman Av X
Highway 280 X
Following this evaluation and scoring rubric, the project team selected Trimble Road, Tasman Drive, and Highway 237 for advancement to the concept design phase.
Climate Smart San José Analysis
Successful implementation of the projects outlined in the Plan will contribute toward achieving Climate Smart San José goals, specifically Strategy 2.4: “Developing integrated, accessible public and active transport reduces the dependency on the car to move within the City.” These projects would contribute to reducing vehicle miles traveled and facilitate the choice of mobility options other than single-occupancy, gas- powered vehicles.
EVALUATION AND FOLLOW-UP
The status of the Plan implementation will be included with the Bike Plan and Trail Network Annual Report to the Transportation and Environment Committee in April 2027.
COORDINATION
This memorandum has been coordinated with the City Attorney’s Office, City Manager’s Budget Office, and the Departments of Parks, Recreation, and Neighborhood Services, and Planning, Building, and Code Enforcement.
PUBLIC OUTREACH
This memorandum will be posted on the City Council Agenda website for the April 14, 2026 City Council meeting.
HONORABLE MAYOR AND CITY COUNCIL
March 23, 2026
Subject: Guadalupe River Trail Bike Connections Plan
DOT staff and the consultant team designed a robust outreach process to reach a wide- ranging group of trail users. Outreach was conducted to learn from the public, receive input on the proposed projects, and develop the Plan to align with community needs.
Outreach during the 20-month long planning process included:
• Four pop-up events along the GRT;
• Three community workshops (two in-person, one online); • An online community survey that received 195 responses; • Four TAC meetings;
• Two BPAC presentations; and
• A bike and walk audit of the GRT with TAC and BPAC members.
In each phase of outreach, a group of dedicated community members made detailed, nuanced suggestions to inform the Plan based on their own lived experience.
BOARD, COMMISSION, COMMITTEE RECOMMENDATION AND INPUT
The Plan was presented to the BPAC twice for review during the planning process, on December 2, 2024, and August 25, 2025. Input from BPAC included prioritizing individual projects within the scope of the planning work; considering current flood conditions and their impact on the GRT rather than future flooding scenarios; coordinating with partner agencies to deliver projects outside of this Plan’s scope; and creating redundancy in the proposed concept designs to ensure that the simplest, shortest detours are included.
CEQA
Categorically Exempt, File No. ER24-313, CEQA Guideline Section 15301(c) Existing Facilities.
PUBLIC SUBSIDY REPORTING
This item does not include a public subsidy as defined in section 53083 or 53083.1 of the California Government Code or the City’s Open Government Resolution.
/s/
JOHN RISTOW
Director, Department of Transportation
HONORABLE MAYOR AND CITY COUNCIL
March 23, 2026
Subject: Guadalupe River Trail Bike Connections Plan
For questions, please contact Scott Karoly, Transportation Specialist, Department of Transportation, at [email protected].
ATTACHMENT:
Guadalupe River Trail Bike Connections Plan
Attachment
Attachment A
Subject: Guadalupe River Trail Bike Connections Plan
Attachment A
Subject: Guadalupe River Trail Bike Connections Plan
Attachment A
Subject: Guadalupe River Trail Bike Connections Plan
Attachment A
Subject: Guadalupe River Trail Bike Connections Plan
Attachment A
Subject: Guadalupe River Trail Bike Connections Plan
Attachment A
Subject: Guadalupe River Trail Bike Connections Plan
Attachment A
Subject: Guadalupe River Trail Bike Connections Plan
Attachment A
Subject: Guadalupe River Trail Bike Connections Plan
Attachment A
Subject: Guadalupe River Trail Bike Connections Plan
Attachment A
Subject: Guadalupe River Trail Bike Connections Plan
Attachment A
Subject: Guadalupe River Trail Bike Connections Plan
Attachment A
Subject: Guadalupe River Trail Bike Connections Plan
Attachment A
Subject: Guadalupe River Trail Bike Connections Plan
Attachment A
Subject: Guadalupe River Trail Bike Connections Plan
Attachment A
Subject: Guadalupe River Trail Bike Connections Plan
Attachment A
Subject: Guadalupe River Trail Bike Connections Plan
Attachment A
Subject: Guadalupe River Trail Bike Connections Plan
Attachment A
Subject: Guadalupe River Trail Bike Connections Plan
Attachment A
Subject: Guadalupe River Trail Bike Connections Plan
Attachment A
Subject: Guadalupe River Trail Bike Connections Plan
Attachment A
Subject: Guadalupe River Trail Bike Connections Plan
Attachment A
Subject: Guadalupe River Trail Bike Connections Plan
Attachment A
Subject: Guadalupe River Trail Bike Connections Plan
Attachment A
Subject: Guadalupe River Trail Bike Connections Plan
Attachment A
Subject: Guadalupe River Trail Bike Connections Plan
Attachment A
Subject: Guadalupe River Trail Bike Connections Plan
Attachment A
Subject: Guadalupe River Trail Bike Connections Plan
Attachment A
Subject: Guadalupe River Trail Bike Connections Plan
Attachment A
Subject: Guadalupe River Trail Bike Connections Plan
Attachment A
Subject: Guadalupe River Trail Bike Connections Plan
Attachment A
Subject: Guadalupe River Trail Bike Connections Plan
Attachment A
Subject: Guadalupe River Trail Bike Connections Plan
Attachment A
Subject: Guadalupe River Trail Bike Connections Plan
Attachment A
Subject: Guadalupe River Trail Bike Connections Plan
Attachment A
Subject: Guadalupe River Trail Bike Connections Plan
Attachment A
Subject: Guadalupe River Trail Bike Connections Plan
Attachment A
Subject: Guadalupe River Trail Bike Connections Plan
Attachment A
Subject: Guadalupe River Trail Bike Connections Plan
Attachment A
Subject: Guadalupe River Trail Bike Connections Plan
Attachment A
Subject: Guadalupe River Trail Bike Connections Plan
Attachment A
Subject: Guadalupe River Trail Bike Connections Plan
Attachment A
Subject: Guadalupe River Trail Bike Connections Plan
Attachment A
Subject: Guadalupe River Trail Bike Connections Plan
Attachment A
Subject: Guadalupe River Trail Bike Connections Plan
Attachment A
Subject: Guadalupe River Trail Bike Connections Plan
Attachment A
Subject: Guadalupe River Trail Bike Connections Plan
Attachment A
Subject: Guadalupe River Trail Bike Connections Plan
Attachment A
Subject: Guadalupe River Trail Bike Connections Plan
Attachment A
Subject: Guadalupe River Trail Bike Connections Plan
Attachment A
Subject: Guadalupe River Trail Bike Connections Plan
Attachment A
Subject: Guadalupe River Trail Bike Connections Plan
Attachment A
Subject: Guadalupe River Trail Bike Connections Plan
Attachment A
Subject: Guadalupe River Trail Bike Connections Plan
Attachment A
Subject: Guadalupe River Trail Bike Connections Plan
Attachment A
Subject: Guadalupe River Trail Bike Connections Plan
Attachment A
Subject: Guadalupe River Trail Bike Connections Plan
Attachment A
Subject: Guadalupe River Trail Bike Connections Plan
Attachment A
Subject: Guadalupe River Trail Bike Connections Plan
Attachment A
Subject: Guadalupe River Trail Bike Connections Plan
Attachment A
Subject: Guadalupe River Trail Bike Connections Plan
Attachment A
Subject: Guadalupe River Trail Bike Connections Plan
Attachment A
Subject: Guadalupe River Trail Bike Connections Plan
Attachment A
Subject: Guadalupe River Trail Bike Connections Plan
Attachment A
Subject: Guadalupe River Trail Bike Connections Plan
Attachment A
Subject: Guadalupe River Trail Bike Connections Plan
Attachment A
Subject: Guadalupe River Trail Bike Connections Plan
Attachment A
Subject: Guadalupe River Trail Bike Connections Plan
Attachment A
Subject: Guadalupe River Trail Bike Connections Plan
Attachment A
Subject: Guadalupe River Trail Bike Connections Plan