The Santa Clara Valley Water District is proposing to work on a culvert where Adobe Creek crosses under El Camino Real near the old Hyatt Cabana and Dinah's Garden Court Hotel.
And for some Palo Alto businesses it may be a case of deja vu, if not a recurring nightmare.
The project looks very similar to the Matadero Creek project on El Camino near Page Mill Road that lingered for two years and had a major impact on local businesses.
But the water district, the city of Palo Alto and the Palo Alto Chamber of Commerce hope the impact will be far different than that of the Matadero project, which ended in May.
"Given what happened with Matadero, everybody, including me, has every reason to be concerned," said Susan Frank, executive director of the chamber. "Some went out of business, like that small sandwich shop, and others barely made it through, like Quality Discount Tile."
The two-year project at Matadero Creek diverted traffic, took away on-street parking spaces and made access to the businesses there more difficult. Business owners blamed losses of up to 50 percent on the project.
"I hope (the water district) has learned from Matadero that outreach to the business community is as important as outreach to the residential community," said Frank, who blasted the water district this spring for numerous delays and lack of communication and accountability during the Matadero project.
The water district maintains that the work was done by the end of the two-year contract, but various delays made it impossible to finish in summer 1995, an optimistic ending date once predicted by the district.
The water district held a public hearing on the Adobe flood and erosion control project last week and is taking comments on the draft Environmental Impact Report until Jan. 3.
The water district plans to replace older and undersized culverts at six spots from El Camino upstream to Los Altos Hills, said Randy Talley, supervising engineer for the water district. The creek downstream of El Camino is in a concrete channel. Adobe Creek begins in the Monte Bello Open Space Preserve and runs through Los Altos Hills, Foothill College and Los Altos before reaching Palo Alto.
The $8 million project also includes repairing erosion damage at 17 sites along the banks and establishing a maintenance program to prevent future problems, Talley said. The overall project will take three or four years, and may begin in the summer of 1998, he said. The El Camino work would take up to two years, Talley said.
"It's a big project. This is fairly high priority (based on) the potential for damage," Talley said. "Edith Avenue (in Los Altos) floods pretty frequently."
Like at Matadero Creek, El Camino traffic will be detoured on a curvy path but all the lanes will remain open, Talley said.
The project "will look very similar to drivers. I think it will be a lesser impact on businesses. There are fewer businesses there, and hotels are not the same as restaurants," Talley said. Restaurants were particularly hurt by the Matadero project.
Tony Carrasco, architect for the newly reopened Hyatt Cabana Hotel that borders the creek, said he is glad necessary flood control work will be done, "but if they do it at the old government pace it's not going to work for businesses. I know the people at Dinah's Garden Court Hotel (across the street) are concerned and so is the (Hyatt) hotel owner."
"El Camino is viewed as the ugly stepchild of Palo Alto, it ends up not getting the focus it deserves," Frank said. "This kind of disruption would never be tolerated in other parts of town."
Talley said the district will do more outreach to business than last time. "We know that it's a sensitive matter," he said.
But Palo Alto isn't satisfied with the district's response so far.
One concern is that "the district do a better job of coordinating with businesses that would be impacted by the project in light of the experience with the Matadero culvert replacement," said city Senior Engineer Joe Teresi.
Teresi said the water district thinks the El Camino work will be simpler this time around because there won't be as many underground utilities at the border of the two cities, Teresi said. Relocating utilities caused delays during the Matadero project.
The Palo Alto City Council was slated to make formal comments on the draft EIR at last Monday's council meeting. Public comments on the EIR will be accepted at the Santa Clara Valley Water District until Jan. 3.
--Heather Rock Woods
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