Northern California - Bike trail along Mission College Blvd

So there is a bike trail that starts on Scott, goes under 101, past Intel, and under Mission College Blvd, in Santa Clara. Does anyone know who manages it? I use part of it to get to Scott so I don't have to deal with 101 and San Thomas. On my way home from work today I almost slammed in to a gate (it was dark, and gate is hard to see) which was locked with a chain an lock! :mad: The creek is not overflowing so I have no idea why they did it. The trail looked in good condition, and it was open in the morning. I don't know how often they check the trail, so wanted to call, but not sure who to call. Any idea?

Thanks.

I think the city of santa clara

http://www.svbcbikes.org/crank/oct-nov-05/index.php

Yep..had the same problem yesterday. I work on Mission College and use the trail to get past 101 on my way to San Tomas. From what I recall they're required to close it in case of rain, until somebody goes down there and makes sure the silt hasnt flooded the path.

IMO they kinda messed that stretch between Scott and 101 up when they built it- i talked to one guy on a crew out there tarring cracks in the asphalt who agreed that the cracks meant the roadbed was eroding away. he said they were probably going to have to re-do it with retaining walls along the sides to prevent the whole thing sliding into the creek.

It was closed this morning when I went into work. I turned around, went back to Scott, and headed northbound on Mission College up to the TechMart. It was open tonight (around 8pm) when I went home.

So there is a bike trail that starts on Scott, goes under 101, past Intel, and under Mission College Blvd, in Santa Clara. Does anyone know who manages it? I use part of it to get to Scott so I don't have to deal with 101 and San Thomas. On my way home from work today I almost slammed in to a gate (it was dark, and gate is hard to see) which was locked with a chain an lock! :mad: The creek is not overflowing so I have no idea why they did it. The trail looked in good condition, and it was open in the morning. I don't know how often they check the trail, so wanted to call, but not sure who to call. Any idea?

Thanks.

I don't recall off-hand, but if you are referring to what the Valley Transportation Authority calls "San Tomas Aquinas Creek" on its trail/routes map (http://www.vta.org/schedules/VTA_Bike_Map.pdf), then the signs I saw posted on the gate when I was riding the trail last summer said something like NO TRESSPASSING. SENSITIVE WATERSHED. PROPERTY OWNED BY SANTA CLARA VALLEY WATER DISTRICT. VIOLATION SUBJECT TO CODE #*@$&#%*#@&... (or something like that. Not sure which water agency it was, but pretty sure it was SCVWD).

Presumably, they own the creek/aqueduct all the way to Sanborn Skyline County Park (http://www.vta.org/schedules/gmaps/index.html) in the West Valley Watershed (http://www.valleywater.org/media/pdf/waterways%20for%20web.pdf) zone. Contact Jennie Micko (mailto:jenniemicko@valleywater.org) with the Santa Clara Valley Water District to urge them to open greater access to this bike path. It would be nice if you could ride from El Camino Real all the way to the Bay along that creek and then north/northwest along the bay to Palo Alto (or even SFO) along the Bay Trail (without getting shunted into Mountain View at Moffet Field), seeing that the trails/dykes are already in place.