It's been about a week since the Coyote Creek spilled it's banks and flooded portions of San Jose, some parts are still in the early clean up mode following the water receding and being pumped out of areas. It also notable in that also wound up flooding 101 in multiple locations (Morgan Hill was the other area where 101 flooded) Granted we do not experience flooding or excessive rain on this level all the time, it does happen in California and San Jose has flooded in the past, especially in the mid 1990s when the Guadalupe River spilled it's banks and flooded parts of Downtown.  It just took me how unprepared not only we were on the whole but how our transportation systems across the area were so impacted and led to road closures, road washouts and sinkholes. I kept wondering how come we did not have this planned out more to at least make the impact to our transportation infrastructure as great as it was, of course it is mother nature and we can't fully control it, but it does leave cause for concern with the way our infrastructure was hit from this flooding and heavy rains. 

The Future of Cambrian

This area has been an interest of mine, it was the neighborhood I grew up in and I never thought much of it during that time, the suburban design of the area. We lived off of Hillsdale Avenue, which is essentially an expressway (it is Capitol in the East and San Tomas in the West) so traffic was often at a steady flow through it at all times. The corridor is focused on the automobile as is most of the Cambrian area.

Last year, when I was looking into San Jose's urban villages, I learned that Cambrian is one of the areas identified as an urban village, notably along Hillsdale/Camden from Union Avenue to about Meridian Avenue. Within that area exists the Cambrian Park Plaza, a typical suburban strip center opened in the 1950s, again focused on the automobile. It is up for redevelopment and the developer is submitting proposals to redevelop the property. To me, this project should be phased to serve as an example of how future developments can help shape the area, bring new office, retail and housing within one area and begin to reduce the need to drive along the Hillsdale/Camden corridor, especially as the city looks to the future.

Old Rail Tunnels through the Santa Cruz Mountains

I came across this article on the mercury news site in regards to the closure of 17 when the CHP and other police were looking for the Scotts Valley Bank Robber, what caught my attention was the chance scrolling of the comments and the mention that there still were the train tunnels in the range, albeit abandoned, in disrepair and apparently being used for other uses as well.

What I wonder is why was the train lines through here closed up, would have been too much to have reformatted these tunnels to be used for modern day use by trains, before they fell into extreme disrepair from sitting abandoned. Given how Highway 17 traverses the mountain with several winding curves, it seems that train transport would be the easier way to move goods across the mountains between Santa Cruz, San Jose and beyond. Of course, it's a moot point now with the tunnels but just a thought that entered my mind, with how it would be to still have trains actively running between San Jose and Santa Crux given the crippling effect the closure of Highway 17 has on commuters and transporters.

http://www.mercurynews.com/2017/02/02/roadshow-highway-17-hell-from-mudslides-downed-trees-to-bank-robbers/