Changes in the Murphy Avenue area, east of Hwy 101 are under
fire from neighbors objecting to a proposed Ford car dealership.
And, on Wednesday, Council members received the Murphy Avenue
Corridor Study that advises a possible widening of Murphy Avenue
into a four-lane
‘arterial’ to improve traffic circulation after two Cochrane
Road retail developments come on line.
Changes in the Murphy Avenue area, east of Hwy 101 are under fire from neighbors objecting to a proposed Ford car dealership. And, on Wednesday, Council members received the Murphy Avenue Corridor Study that advises a possible widening of Murphy Avenue into a four-lane ‘arterial’ to improve traffic circulation after two Cochrane Road retail developments come on line.
The city’s 1999 general plan has Murphy Avenue, which now ends at Diana Avenue, extending north to Cochrane Road in four lanes.
Tuesday night the Planning Commission approved, 7-0, zoning changes and a planned unit development (PUD) allowing the Ford dealership to build on Condit Road, just north of East Dunne Avenue.
Murphy Avenue is less than one-tenth of a mile to the east of Condit.
Rick Finamore, a resident of the Murphy area just north of Nordstrom Park has contacted the City Council and Planning Commission several times about what he termed the unsuitability of an auto dealership near Nordstrom School and the park.
“This should be kept a quiet residential, safe area for raising children,” he wrote in an e-mail Monday. “Businesses should be kept as far from homes, residential areas, schools and parks … as possible for the safety of your homeowners and residents.”
The 30,000 square-foot Ford dealership will be built on 6.02 acres of an 8.65 acre plot between Condit Road and Hwy 101, north of the Holiday Inn Express. The original 1999 PUD, according to the staff report, recommended a health club/fitness center, hotel, sit-down restaurant or quality retail center.
“Murphy reminds us of a little country road,” Theresa Finamore said Thursday. “We lived around corner from a dealership in San Jose. We were told that people won’t be test driving down our street with the freeway nearby but that is not what happened in San Jose. It was a problem and we moved from San Jose to Morgan Hill to get away from that.”
Rick Finamore also called attention to speeders in the area that jeopardize his morning jog.
In a related action, the County Board of Supervisors voted 5-0 Tuesday to change the speed limits on Morgan Hill’s Murphy Avenue. The stretch north of East Dunne Avenue to Diana Avenue will be set at 30 mph. From Dunne Avenue south to Church Avenue in San Martin, Murphy’s speed limit will be 40 mph.
Scott Creer, traffic engineer in the Public Works Dept. said that part of the street on which the county is adjusting speed limits is actually in the city.
“About half of that roadway – between Dunne and Kelly Park,” he said, “is in Morgan Hill, not county.” Kelly Park is a residential development.
The road a short way south of Dunne Avenue is also in the city, he said. Creer said that, to his knowledge, the county has not contacted the city about the proposed changes.
Murphy Avenue now functions as a collector, Creer said, but the 1999 general plan called for it to be expanded to a four-lane arterial. A collector is a smaller road with less traffic.
The Corridor Study, released this week, offered several possibilities for Murphy Avenue.
• Murphy Avenue as four-lane arterial connecting with St. Louise Drive, to Cochrane Road
• A four-lane Condit Road and a two-lane Murphy Avenue – Murphy as a four-lane arterial only between Middle and Tennant avenues.
• Four-lane Condit, two-lane Murphy Avenue with development on the Condit Road/Half Road/Mission View site and the Guglielmo/Sullivan site, northeast section of Cochrane Road and Hwy 101.
• Murphy Avenue as a four-lane arterial from Middle Avenue, connecting to a four-lane Condit Road north of East Dunne Avenue. Condit would continue north and connect with St. Louise Drive. Murphy Avenue, north of the Dunne Avenue connection would remain two-lane.
• Murphy to Condit transition north of Dunne with additional development on the Guglielmo site.
Theresa Finamore said she was glad to hear of alternatives to a busy Murphy Avenue.
“Keep Murphy residential – make Condit four lanes,” she said.
The Murphy Avenue Corridor study will be discussed by the Planning Commission and the City Council at a joint meeting on June 24.
