News

Renderings of Los Altos Community Investment’s First Street Green project show a three-story office building next to a public village square above underground parking.

The local development company planning an office redevelopment and public park in downtown Los Altos has cancelled its plans for the project.

A citywide pavement project will affect traffic on two well-traveled streets over the next two weeks, according to a press release issued by the city of Los Altos.

Grant Road between Foothill Expressway and April Lane is scheduled to be repaved and repainted Tuesday and Oct. 11. El Monte Avenue between Foothill Expressway and Springer Road is slated to receive similar street treatments Oct. 19 and 20.

Megan V. Winslow/Town Crier
Flowers mark the scene where a driver struck and killed pedestrian Michelle Montalvo early one October morning in 2015.

Amid emotional pleas from family members of a Los Altos woman killed crossing El Monte Avenue at Marich Way two years ago, the Mountain View City Council last week approved a host of traffic improvements at the intersection.

Perhaps the most notable of the upgrades earning unanimous council support was the proposal to eliminate the northern crosswalk at the intersection. It was at this crosswalk where pedestrian Michelle Montalvo was fatally hit by a car in October 2015.

A Saratoga resident and her attorney are continuing a lawsuit that ties up an estimated $6.3 billion in voter-approved funds for Santa Clara County transportation projects.

One such project facing construction delays is the redesign of Foothill Expressway in Los Altos.

Megan V. Winslow / Los Altos Town Crier

Cyclists, above, make use of the new Covington Road bike lanes Thursday morning. Workers, below, smooth concrete for the lane on July 6. The project along Covington involved replacement of sidewalks, curbs and gutters.

The city of Los Altos met its target date for completing the Covington Road bicycle/pedestrian improvement project, wrapping up major construction last week.

“As is the case for most projects, we anticipate there will be some punch-list items which will be taken care of in early August,” said Susanna Chan, the city’s director of public works.

Eliza Ridgeway/Town Crier
A former parking lot abutting Castro Street and St. Joseph’s Church on Hope Street is being remade into a four-story complex containing office space, 12 condominium units and ground-floor retail.

Hoping to capitalize on the vibrancy of Mountain View’s downtown core, developers have shown increasing interest in building out the area’s restaurant and retail sites to include office space.

“It almost feels like an avalanche of proposals for office space,” said Robert Cox, who has served for five years on Mountain View’s Environmental Planning Commission, which advises the city council on whether to approve development proposals.