A San Jose-based non-profit group recently released plans for an
upcoming study that could eventually bring grant money and other
resources to help improve downtown Morgan Hill and Gilroy as well
as Monterey Road through the two South Valley communities.
A San Jose-based non-profit group recently released plans for an upcoming study that could eventually bring grant money and other resources to help improve downtown Morgan Hill and Gilroy as well as Monterey Road through the two South Valley communities.
On Tuesday the non-profit group Joint Venture launched its “Main Street Silicon Valley Project.”
Designed to create a region-wide agreement on standards and models for Main Street Silicon Valley – Monterey Road and El Camino Real – the group is hoping the study will improve the regions economy and infrastructure by focusing on its main surface road.
Joint Venture plans to work with 20 cities – including Morgan Hill and Gilroy – and two counties to complete the project.
“El Camino Real/Monterey Highway is the ‘Main Street’ for Silicon Valley,” said project CO-director Frank Benest in a release. “But as a state highway we have little control of this critical connection.
“This project will bring together Silicon Valley communities so we can collectively develop shared solutions; address issues related to traffic, housing, aesthetics and economic vitality; and work with the state to remove obstacles to our success.”
The goals of the project will be to produce a summary of the corridor’s existing conditions – from San Mateo to Gilroy; create a collection of best corridor practices; create four pilot projects aimed at improving selected areas of the corridor; create a list of regional guidelines; and submit a final report with a list of by June 2004.
“This study will provide models for the future of Monterey Road in South County and provide resources for funding those improvements,” said Garrett Toy, Morgan Hill’s director of business who attended Joint Venture’s recent meeting on the Main Street Silicon Valley Project. “This study will help provide us with a vision for the future of Monterey Road.”
