Some Morgan Hill residents are angry road closures for the
inaugural Tour of California left them stranded
Morgan Hill – An effort to improve the relationship between Santa Clara County and San Jose has left some residents in north Morgan Hill with sour feelings.
Several roads in the hills between the Chesbro and Calero Reservoirs were closed Wednesday for stage 3 of the inaugural Tour of California, a week-and-a-half of bicycle racing along the length of the state, and many residents were steamed that they were hemmed in on their properties with little or no notice.
“This is another example of these people ramrodding stuff down our throats and we have no say in the matter and we have no benefit,” said Croy Road resident John Rosica. “People on Casa Loma Road or Croy Road can’t get out period. These are major thoroughfares and our only thoroughfares.”
Michael Murdter, the county director of roads, said he gave San Jose permission to close the roads because he thought the bike race was a worthwhile event that could improve relations between the county and the city at a time when the two are at loggerheads over several issues. Last week, the county won a bitter lawsuit over county fairgrounds inside San Jose and may go forward with a $30 million lawsuit for damages arising from the fairgrounds dispute.
“I viewed this as a way to cooperate with the city and generate some economic benefits for the city and the county and provide some exposure for the county from tourism,” Murdter said. “The city promised extensive outreach and I think they’ve done that.”
The county shut down a 17-mile loop from Bailey Avenue in the north to Willow Springs Road in the South. Stretches of Uvas Road, Oak Glen Avenue, Hale Avenue and Santa Teresa Boulevard were all shut down.
The Uvas Canyon area, the site of the devastating Croy Road fire in 2002, is home to a number of ranchers and farmers who move cattle and heavy equipment for their livelihood. Wednesday, they were all stuck. Officials from San Jose sent letters to people who lived on the 17-mile race route, but they didn’t notify people who live nearby and rely on those roads.
The city did place signs on the roads about a week before the event, saying the roads would be closed from 10am to 3pm, but the roads were actually shut down much earlier, stranding residents. Lisa Niva, the horse trainer at Five Star Farms on Casa Loma Road, had to walk four miles to get to work.
“I got to McKean Road at 9am and it was already closed,” Niva said. “I told the CHP officer I had 30 horses to take care of, but he told me he was told not to let anyone through. He did let someone go to IBM. I thought I was there early enough. I was not happy at all. It was not a fun way to begin the day.”
Many residents lodged complaints to Supervisor Don Gage. His transportation aide, Edwin Chan, said they were disappointed by San Jose’s outreach efforts, Gage said he agreed with the decision to close the roads, but admitted that residents’ concerns could have been handled better.
“Next year it’s going to be a different story,” Gage said. “They will have to find a better way to handle it. I didn’t want to rock the boat this year because we had the lawsuit and we have other issues we need to heal some wounds.”
Without access to Bailey Avenue or Willow Springs Road, residents in that area were forced to travel south all the way to Watsonville Road to reach U.S. Route 101.
“My opinion is that perhaps they could have done more to talk to people and get more information out to residents and property owners,” said Kenn Weeks, a chief with the Uvas Volunteer Fire Department, which formed after the Croy fire. “That didn’t occur and I think that’s why some of the ranchers and people were upset.”
Weeks said the closure didn’t present a safety issue, but it did make life very inconvenient.
“It’s a huge deal,” Rosica said. “People who live in Uvas Canyon have to go 25 or 30 miles out of their way to get to San Jose.”
Weeks said he thought the county could have narrowed the roads to one lane for the race, as they do for the annual Terra Bella bike race, which includes thousands of amateur riders and many other running and biking events that take place in the western foothills.
“There was an opportunity to improve this,” he said. “I don’t know if they really had to close the road. Terra Bella had 2,000 cyclists and they never had the road closed.”
