Thank you all for rallying together to write to the Santa Clara County Board of Supervisors last week about John Nicholas trail. We received a positive response from Supervisor Simitian’s office regarding our concerns and we really appreciate the swift response. Please see the full text of their response below and write Santa Clara County Board of Supervisors back if you have any additional concerns. We responded back asking about whether the parking situation on the Sanborn (north end) of the park could be alleviated as well for users who access the trails on the north. We can’t thank you enough for rallying together as a community to elevate our voice.
Office of County Supervisor Joe Simitian response re: Black Road Parking Information on 3/18/24:
“In follow up to your communication with Supervisor Simitian about recent changes to public parking along Black Road near the John Nicholas Trailhead/Sanborn County Park, and after working with the County Parks and Roads Departments, we wanted to provide you with the following information:
Sanborn County Park is open to the public from 8 a.m. to sunset. In response to numerous complaints from Black Road/Skyline Boulevard neighbors regarding unlawful after-sunset issues at the John Nicholas Trailhead, Parks Ranger staff requested that the Roads Department install “No Parking Sunset to Sunrise” signs at the John Nicolas Trailhead. The intent was to discourage the unlawful behavior during after park hours.
As with any new signage request, the Roads Department conducted an on-site engineering study to ensure public safety. In addition to the afterhours issues, the study also found that some of the parking that was happening on the north side of Black Road (trail side) was in unlawful locations as the vehicles were parked such that they illegally encroached on the roadway. In addition, the study found that parking on the south side of the road resulted in pedestrians unsafely crossing Black Road which has limited sight distance due to steep grades and blind curves. Based on these findings, and to ensure safety of park users as well as users of Black Road, Roads recommended restricting daytime parking on the north side (trail side) to those areas where feasible with enough room for cars to safely park without crossing the fog line and “No Parking Any Time” on the south side.
In response to information shared with our office by a John Nicholas Trailhead visitor, Roads has relocated the “No Parking Sunset to Sunrise” signs to no longer block potential parking spaces. Roads has also indicated that it will look at improving the pavement drop-off on the north side (where parking is allowed) once the weather permits.
The Parks and Roads Departments also informed our office that they will be adding more roadway signs directing the public to the additional parking lots off Skyline Boulevard, including Sunnyvale Mountain and Summit Rock parking lots, that have trail connections to the John Nicholas Trail.
Finally, Parks has indicated that it has no plans to disturb the natural environment of the trailhead and create a paved parking lot at this location. Parks also reported that it is evaluating the possibility of expanding the Sunnyvale Mountain parking lot which provides trail connectivity to the John Nicholas Trail. As we get more information from Parks on potential expansion of the Sunnyvale Mountain parking lot, we will provide that information to you.
Thank you for your patience while we gathered the above information.”
