The 4 mile stretch of Willow Street, Story Road, and Keyes Street, in San Jose, is seen by local communities as a congested nightmare, and a barrier to livability, walkability and safe cycling, rather than a community asset.

VTA’s Story-Keyes Complete Streets study, funded through state and federal grants and the Vehicle Registration Fee (VRF), seeks to improve this situation allowing pedestrians, bicyclists, public transit and other vehicles to share the corridor more safely and easily.

In fall 2016, VTA reached out to the community with public meetings, stakeholder briefings, online mapping and social media messaging to get feedback on design ideas. Among the more unconventional outreach techniques were “Pop-Ups” designed to meet people where they are as opposed to asking them to take personal time to attend evening meetings. These informal ‘Pop-Up’ meetings took place at schools, bus stops and wherever community members gathered along the Story-Keyes corridor. The Pop-Up outreach drew feedback from surveys and documented conversations with people who regularly travel along the route. The results increased the project’s exposure and awareness.   

During the study, VTA staff gathered 524 in-person comments, presented at 14 community group meetings, and met with over 65 businesses along the corridor. View the outreach summary here. 

Comments gathered from the online mapping, public meetings and pop-ups regarding the proposed corridor improvements, helped to guide the formation of the Study Report and Conceptual Design. 

Moving forward, the VTA Board of Directors will review and adopt the Story-Keyes Complete Streets Study and the Conceptual Design at its regularly scheduled meeting, September 6, 2018. The report includes preliminary costs and an implementation plan to help secure future funding for final design and construction.

Additional funding sources will be sought to fund the next phase of planning and design in the Study. Funding sources may include Caltrans Highway Safety Improvement Program, One Bay Area Grant, 2016 Measure B Sales Tax Program, Affordable Housing and Sustainable Community Program, Senate Bill 1, and Federal Transit Administration Small Starts funding program.

VTA will remain a key partner in the project’s future development. A five-year implementation action plan is included in the Study that will also help guide future efforts.

Check out the Story-Keyes Complete Streets Study Report Conceptual Design to learn about the process for transforming an urban roadway into a complete/sustainable street, and for guidance on future streetscape designs of Willow Street, Story Road, and Keyes Street from SR-87 to Capitol Expressway.