Enhance
our community by providing a safe, attractive, and
aesthetically-pleasing trail that connects to Santa Teresa Park, Lake
Almaden Park, the Coyote Creek Trail, and the Los Alamitos Creek Trail
Consistent
with the effect of constructing trails nationwide, reduce existing
illegal activities (e.g., drinking, partying, discharging of firearms,
vandalism, arson, etc.) in the foothills by increasing human presence,
including ranger patrols.
The trail can save lives. It can provide a safe, easily-accessible recreational trail for thousands of users in South San Jose.
It
can help to reduce traffic, pollution, and traffic accidents by
providing a safe commute route for non-vehicular commuters to
businesses and schools in Santa Teresa, the Almaden Valley, IBM's
sites, Edenvale, and the Coyote Valley.
It can
help reduce crime and vandalism and prevent fires by providing a
vantage point for neighborhood watch volunteers to keep an eye on their
neighborhoods.
Juveniles bent on mischief and
vandalism like to go to places where they will not be seen by adults.
The current off-limits status of the Coyote-Alamitos Canal invites
them. This may be why there are so many fires in the Santa Teresa
Hills. Opening the canal such that more adults (including their
parents) are frequently in the area will tend to chase these young
troublemakers away.
Regular patrols can
report trail and canal maintenance problems. This is important to the
people who live below the canal, since it serves as a storm drain in
the winter and helps protect the homes below from mudslides.
More information...
Benefits of the Coyote-Alamitos Canal Trail
Rails-to-Trails Conservancy - Benefits of Trails