Federal, state and local officials gathered May 1 at the Coyote Valley Open Space Preserve to break ground on a $1.4-million project that will improve trail access for visitors of all abilities.
Announced in 2024, the project will widen and stabilize the quarter-mile Heart’s Delight Trail, add a shaded gathering area at the preserve entrance, install accessible interpretive signage and create a new picnic area to support environmental education programs.
“Access to nature should be for everyone,” said Lucas Shellhammer, planning, design and construction manager for the Santa Clara Valley Open Space Authority, which oversees the preserve. “Everyone deserves to feel they belong outdoors.”
The project is funded through three sources: $800,000 in federal Community Project Funding; $200,000 from Valley Water’s Safe, Clean Water Program; and $400,000 from the Open Space Authority’s Measure Q bond.
U.S. Representative Jimmy Panetta, who announced the federal allocation at the preserve in July 2024, said the investment was evidence that federal spending could have tangible local impact despite dysfunction in Washington.
“When you’re able to get a base hit like this,” Panetta said, “it gives people faith. A little bit of faith in Congress, but a lot of faith in our community.”
U.S. Rep. Sam Liccardo from San Jose credited community organizing over more than a decade with protecting Coyote Valley from industrial and residential development and making Friday’s milestone possible. As San Jose’s former mayor, Liccardo said he helped shift city policy away from expanding development into the valley in favor of conservation.
“At a time when we know our democratic institutions are under assault, this should give us some assurance that democracy still works in our country,” Liccardo said. “What we see behind us is a treasure. It should also be a reminder for all of us that democracy still matters.”
State Sen. Dave Cortese from San Jose recalled that the valley’s future as protected open space was far from certain as recently as the early 2000s, when annexation and industrial development remained possibilities.
“Those of us who go back a few years in local government know what a long-term fight it’s been not just to get resources, but to protect Coyote Valley,” Cortese said. “This could very easily not be here. It could have very easily been advanced manufacturing or something else.”
Valley Water Board Director John L. Varela, whose district includes the preserve, said the grant reflected the agency’s broader mission.
“I am confident that as people are enjoying this trail improvement along the Heart’s Delight trail, as well as other facility improvements, they will also develop a greater sense of responsibility in stewarding our natural resources and help keep our waterways clean, healthy and flood-ready,” he said.
Open Space Authority Board Chair Kathy Sutherland said the accessibility improvements carried personal meaning. Her late husband, she said, used a wheelchair for the last seven years of his life.
“Every member of our community deserves the opportunity to experience open space, to feel connected to the land and to benefit from the health and well-being that nature provides,” Sutherland said.
The contract to complete the trail improvements was awarded to Silicon Valley Paving Inc., with the Open Space Authority tentatively estimating that the project will be completed in September 2026.
