Construction is about to begin on three new downtown parks, with an official groundbreaking ceremony scheduled by city officials for April 26.
The Morgan Hill City Council approved the final design and construction of the three new parks at their Feb. 22 meeting, at a maximum cost of about $5.5 million. This week, the process started with crews’ mobilization of equipment and setting up of staging areas at the Depot Street parking lot just south of the train station, and at the West Little Llagas Creek park site between West Second and Third streets, according to city staff.
The prep work also means the southern portion of the Depot Street parking lot—between Third and Fourth streets—will be closed to the public as of April 17, when construction crews set up a chain link fence around the construction site.
The more visible and intensive construction work won’t begin until April 24, and city staff expect the parks to be complete by the end of 2017. In the meantime, residents and business owners can expect not only the loss of parking on Depot Street, but also occasional traffic disruptions.
“There will be periodic roadway closures and detours that will affect both traffic and/or property access for all three sites,” Morgan Hill Senior Project Manager Yat Cho said. “We will further communicate with affected residents/business owners with advance notice to them throughout the project.”
The city will host an official groundbreaking ceremony for the parks at the Creek Park site, just west of Monterey Road on Third Street (just past the one-lane bridge), starting at 5:30 p.m. April 26.
The parks will be constructed with a variety of funds, including the city’s park impact and public facilities funds, leftover Redevelopment Agency money and about $2 million in grants, according to city staff. At the Feb. 22 meeting, the council approved a construction contract with Suarez and Munoz Construction, Inc., to build all three parks.
The new parks, first conceptualized by city planners in 2014 and designed by Verde Design, will offer a variety of new casual recreational spaces for visitors and residents of downtown Morgan Hill, according to city staff.
The Depot Park will be the most child-oriented of the three parks, with a wide variety of play equipment scattered throughout the site that sits along the Union Pacific Railroad tracks. That site also includes shade structures, a seven-foot sound wall, trees and other landscaping, colorful walkways and railroad-themed décor, art and play equipment. This site will include a public restroom.
The Hilltop Park and Trail, at the top of the hill at the end of West Third Street, will open the area surrounding the city’s downtown water tank to the public. This park will be more fitness oriented, with paved pathways throughout the site, with exercise equipment, retaining walls, stairs and bike racks. A giant slide will be built into the steep hillside.
The third downtown park is known as the Creek Park, located on a small, quiet stretch of West Little Llagas Creek on the west side of downtown, behind commercial businesses located on the 17300 block of Monterey Road, between Second and Third streets. This park will also provide new landscaping and walking/bicycle paths, with more play equipment, public art, a pedestrian bridge crossing the creek, bike racks and a bicycle “fix it” station with a kiosk illustrating a map of nearby bike paths.
All three parks will include new lighting and security cameras, according to the project website.
The city’s Parks & Recreation Commission scheduled a discussion on the possible names for the new parks for its April 18 meeting, scheduled for 7 p.m. at council meeting chambers, 17575 Peak Ave. In recent weeks, the city has asked residents to submit names for the new parks, and the results of this request will be presented at the April 18 commission meeting.
For more information about the parks project, visit the city’s website at morganhill.ca.gov/1248/Downtown-Parks-and-Trails.
