Editorial Editorial (June 25, 2004)

New Vineyard opens all alone

Pleasanton's new 1-1/2 mile, $6 million realigned Vineyard Avenue opened last Friday, completing a roadway project first planned in the early 1990s as part of the Vineyard Corridor Specific Plan. While the new two-lane thoroughfare with its distinctive wide roundabouts will improve traffic safety between Ruby Hill and central Pleasanton, this long stretch of asphalt passes through a largely barren landscape far different from what was envisioned as recently as four years ago. Back then, the 384 acres designated by the city's 1996 General Plan as the Vineyard Corridor were slated to be developed in conjunction with the new roadway with 189 custom homes, new vineyards, a community park, biking, hiking and equestrian trails and the new Joshua Neal Elementary School that was then scheduled to open in 2002.

But Neal has yet to be built or even funded. There are no new homes or a community park, and taxpayers are footing much of the bill for the new roadway that developers were expected to pay through construction fees. Two years ago, in a rush to complete the new Vineyard so that construction could start on Neal, the Pleasanton city government and school district signed a historic financing agreement that paved the way for the roadway project. Both agencies agreed to share in the costs - then estimated at $6.6 million - to build the new Vineyard and provide core infrastructure improvements, such as sewer and water lines to the school site. The school district agreed to pay its full share of $4.16 million, with the city appropriating another $2.44 million. Although these improvements are now in place, including two loop roads with bus and passenger drop-offs at the south end of the vacant school site, a $5 million funding gap and lawsuits have delayed Neal's construction indefinitely.

Pressure to build the long-planned realigned Vineyard Avenue also mounted when PG&E said it needed to start installing its 230,000-volt underground power line down Vineyard, a route ordered by the California Public Utilities Commission after PG&E lost its bid to bury the line under Kottinger Ranch streets. Although the power lines could have been placed under old Vineyard, the city and school district wanted them installed along the proposed new roadway that would keep the controversial high voltage lines as far from Neal School as possible. That project is now completed.

Although motorists traveling the costly, newly realigned Vineyard may be frustrated by the speed-controlling roundabouts around a school that isn't there, they need to put on their rose-colored glasses and see what the future holds. The Vineyard Corridor Specific Plan is still in place. And although developers cancelled or postponed work on the 189 homes in 2000 and 2001, it's encouraging to see one of those developers, Greenbriar Homes, starting construction of the first 18 of these homes on the old Heinz farm on Vineyard near Ruby Hill. This is part of what the Specific Plan called a "Year 2000" adaptation of villages in southeastern France, with homes along Vineyard to be nestled in the hills and flatlands, surrounded by vineyards and lush landscaping. Housing styles approved in the Planned Unit Developments (PUDs) and still in place show designs that reflect a European "wine country" architectural flavor, including English Country, French Country, Mediterranean, Monterrey/Spanish or contemporary interpretations of these styles.

When fully developed, trails will allow joggers, walkers and equestrians to travel safely from Ruby Hill on the east or Montevino Drive at the corridor's west end, or on a trail along the Arroyo Del Valle next to the new Vineyard Avenue, a long-awaited improvement over the perilous route where cyclists competed with high-speed vehicle traffic on old Vineyard. Then, too, there may come a time when Neal School is built, justifying the roundabouts that are now the only impediments aggravating motorists who are enjoying the safety and new pavement of the new roadway.

E-mail a friend a link to this story.