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12 September 2009

Liveblog from Visioning Workshop



Large group at San Jose's Parkside Hall B to discuss the Diridon Station & Ballpark plan. It's a workshop, which means that lots of reps from City, transit, and consultants are all over the place to answer questions. Updates will be posted here as they come.

1:20 pm - No real ballpark news. This was a community event to get area residents to provide feedback on how the surrounding area should be developed.

2:10 pm - The next workshop, which will be focused and land use and transit, is scheduled for sometime in late January. That will be important simply because it will introduce something that hasn't really been discussed (even during this workshop), phasing. Consider the timeline for all of the construction work being projected to this point:
  • 2011-13 - Realignment of Montgomery/Autumn Streets to Autumn Parkway.
  • 2011-14 - Ballpark is constructed, plus Caltrain electrification.
  • 2015-20 - High speed rail, including expanded Diridon Station.
  • 2020-25 - Downtown segment of BART extension.
That's a really lengthy development time, plenty to get different objectives accomplished but also difficult to understand the timing of various pieces. How long will much of the immediate area be gigantic holes in the ground? Does the city work on the greenscape first or parking infrastructure? Can they be done simultaneously? Of course, there's the lingering question of how much parking should go there, which didn't get addressed at the workshop. There will be plenty of battles about how much housing if any should be there, alternatives to a ballpark, public art, and ways to better connect the station area to downtown. Everyone's playing nice now, but several garden-variety development battles are promised - and that's even after the long-awaited ballpark EIR is certified.

5 comments:

Sam S said...

Considering what SF looked like then they were tunneling BART under the bay, San Jose will be dug up for a very long time.

Not only could you have the new Diridon station under construction up until 2025, but putting BART in will cause road closers for years, and if the A's get their stadium and any of the new/improved roads/exits suggested at the meeting end up happening, it will not be a fun 15 years to drive in SJ.

Anonymous said...

Even if the ballpark is built in the next 5-7 yrs , getting there may be a hassle for it's first 15 years due to the necessary phasing in of planned build out in the area .

Too bad the housing/commercial real estate bubble derailed Pacific Commons and it's self financed Wrigleyville -styled Ballpark Village . BART aside ( and don't forget , BART at Diridon is for the benefit of your future grandchildren going there for games -not you ) , that Fremont site is a wide open 200 acre greenfield site no where near any NIMBY neighbors , next to 880 for weeknight game Santa Clara Cty and Alameda Cty fans as well as 1 mile from 680 for weekend Contra Costa/Tracy fans that A's group had completely secured , ready to build . And no territorial issues.

Anonymous said...

Thank goodness the housing/commercial real estate bubble derailed Pacific Commons. A ballpark in the middle of nowhere would have been a disaster. It'd be step down from the Coli which is only partially in the middle of nowhere.

Anonymous said...

anon 1010,
I don't think Wolff is all to concerned now a days about the "territorial issue."

Also, until BART, High-Speed rail, and upgraded Caltrain get going, you'll still have the following transit options: current Caltrain, Capitol Corridor, and VTA Light Rail.

Nick Tesla said...

Caltrain electrification is not very far off. That should make a performance difference, with better accelleration and decelleration.