At last week’s meeting about a proposed housing development on Lick Avenue near the San Jose Tamien Caltrain station, VTA, city staff, and developer representatives identified potential solutions to parking and station access concerns raised by Tamien Caltrain users and neighbors.  The meeting was hosted by the City of San Jose, VTA, and the project developer, with about two dozen members of the public attending.

Two buildings with up to 440 units of new housing are proposed to be built on the VTA/CalTrain parking lot on the east side of the station and the site of an existing childcare facility.  To replace the station parking, a new parking structure would be built on the west side of Highway 87.  The development would include a small “plaza” with a few shops – up to 3,000 square feet of retail – at the corner of the structure nearest the walkway to CalTrain/VTA.

Tamien area housing and parking

Parking solutions identified

Good news from the meeting – VTA agreed that the transit user parking has to be replaced before they start to build on the parking lot. Replacement parking was a top concern of Caltrain riders and residents, since Tamien is essentially a terminal station drawing riders from a large area, because service south of Tamien is so infrequent.    

Options to provide replacement parking before the new parking structure is completed included land currently used by Caltrain for the CBOSS train control project  (immediately south of the City’s football field), and leasing space from Barry Swenson builders that is earmarked for a second Tamien tower.

A proposal for transit park’n’riders to use the plentiful parking at the Curtner light rail station was not popular – this approach would require a commuter to drive to Curtner and then take the light rail 10 minutes back to Tamien to catch the Caltrain.  Since the light rail trains have 15 minute frequency, this would add ~15-25 minutes to a commute, plus the risk of a missed connection. Or take light rail up to Diridon, for a 30 minute additional trip plus waiting, a similarly unappealing choice.  

Pedestrian and bike access to the station

In addition to the parking replacement for people who drive to the station, attendees were also concerned about pedestrian and bicycle access to the Caltrain and light rail stations, and to the eventual extension of the Guadalupe River trail on the west side of the freeway.  Participants wanted safe and inviting access through the development’s private drive to the Caltrain and station. To make the route appealing, participants wanted to see wide sidewalks, with pleasant landscaping and directional signs, and no gateway which might imply that the route might not be open to the public. To ensure good pedestrian access when the adjacent Tamien Towers are built, participants wanted to make sure that a walkway would connect the loop road to the Tamien Towers building entrance.  

To ensure safety, for people walking to and from the station and trail, participants wanted the walkway to be wide and illuminated, and for housing units to be oriented to have windows facing the roadway and walks; and for units on Lick to have direct street access. “Eyes on the street” will help maintain safety, and street entrances will encourage residents to be a part of the community, including easy access to the Calle Willow shopping district.  Participants wanted to see safe bike access, with onsite bike parking, secure bike parking for visitors, and a bicycle/pedestrian crossing to the new trail.

Participants also asked about details of vehicle access to the new parking area. Once the parking is moved to the west side of freeway, traffic signals might need to be changed to accommodate the traffic patterns. A “no turn on red” sign would be needed on west-bound Alma at Lelong, and signal might be needed at Lelong/87-ramps.  

One access concern that is not yet resolved is finding a replacement location for the childcare facility before closing existing site. This is an important issue for parents who value the daycare’s location, since the location within walking distance of the station allows them to drop their children off and pick them up before and after the Caltrain trip.   

Parks were a topic of interest at the meeting. There are plans for a “Cultural Resources” park at Indian burial site, and for a future park to the north, with access from Goodyear at Peptone.  Plans for the park included a multi-use soccer field, volleyball court, basketball court,  jogging path, picnic tables, playground, and restrooms, with parking for  about 3 dozen cars.  The plans do not include a dog park, and the Rocketship School charter school has abandoned its plans to build school buildings on part of the proposed parkland.   Funding has been assembled to build the park, from a combination of grants and development fees, but availability of half the funds will need to wait until the Caltrain parking lot is rezoned and the housing project is entitled. So the park is being planned in two phases, with the first phase in early 2016 to include the parking lot, tot lot and volleyball courts, and the second phase timeline depending on the timeline of the development.

If you have follow-up questions, contacts include Liz Schuller from City of San Jose, reachable at elizabeth.schuller@sanjoseca.gov, and Michael Sullivan, a representative of the developer.   mike@srecompany.com.  If you ask questions and get answers that will be of interest to others, feel free to leave comments on this blog post.

Thanks to Larry Ames, Roland Lebrun, and Jean Dresden who contributed reporting.  Larry’s full notes can be found here