Good writing, but really needed a map or graphic showing the new changes and areas of homes that are better off as a result. Second, the Baylands loop ... open now?

Does this mean that the trail/bridge are now open, including cleanup? For some reason, none of the announcements seem to mention this.

Web Link

I catch small salmon in San Francisquito Creek once. Blocked off stream with rocks. Brought home and ate for dinner.

Nguyen, you might want to check on fishing regulations before you take endangered Salmon from local spawning creeks..

> I catch small salmon in San Francisquito Creek once. Blocked off stream with rocks. Brought home and ate for dinner.

Not very sporting Nguyen and probably illegal.

In the Philippines, villagers are known to block off streams and then toss an M-80 into the water. The fish are shocked by the concussion and then flop onto the banks where they are quickly gathered.

Not exactly "A River Runs Through It' fishing experience but cultural practices will tend to vary.

'Catch and release' is an oxymoron over there.

Great progress, particularly for East Palo Alto residents -- potential Katrina-like disaster avoided. But remember that the Chaucer and Newell bridges are still a big problem for Palo Alto so looking forward to seeing progress on the upstream phase of the project.

The flood was NOT a surprise to the then City Manager of Palo Alto as the firemen went to her house to help get out the occupants. Again, Mayor Liz Kniss still has no clue about what was happening during that storm nor does she have a clue what is happening now. Just a politician. My neighbors were flooded out of their homes.

The flood was NOT a surprise to the then City Manager of Palo Alto as the firemen went to her house to help get out the occupants. Again, Mayor Liz Kniss still has no clue about what was happening during that storm nor does she have a clue what is happening now. My neighbors were flooded out of their homes.

> 'Catch and release' is an oxymoron over there.

I looked up oxymoron to find meaning.

Why catch and release food? Might as well go hungry.

First a clarification, and then a correction:
> "The project has also improved connections for pedestrians and bicyclists between the creek and adjacent marsh by adding a boardwalk at the Friendship Bridge between East Palo Alto and Palo Alto."

The creek was widened at the Friendship Bridge by cutting into the bank at the golf course. The boardwalk was added as an extension to the bridge to span the additional width.

> "Dennis Parker and his wife, East Palo Alto flood victims, lost everything in two floods from the creek, in 1955 and 1998."

Dennis Parker did not move to East Palo Alto until 1999. His future wife evacuated with the kids during the 1998 event. Most of the homes on the upper end of the Gardens neighborhood received no damage. Houses adjacent to the levee had muddy water containing debris and toxins inundated the ground floor of their homes, but "lost everything" is a bit of an exaggeration.

I rode the new section today from the ball park to the friendship bridge - very fancy! The section toward the runway is not yet paved. Beware of the 11th hole tees - golf balls will strike you - wear your helmet!

Is there a plan to pave the trail around the airport? It was unpaved and very muddy during the rainy season before this project started. Paving it be a big improvement for winter users.

Trunks of fallen trees, overgrowth of underbrush, and lots of trash is sitting in the upstream creekbed. Every summer and autumn we should be routinely cleaning all of this out, so that debris does not undo the effect of all of our fine (and costly) improvements.

It is good to see things moving along (finally). One issue that I wish the article had addressed (i.e. perhaps follow-on work for the PAW reporter) is how the work will be funded. The work is needed, but in the interest of full transparency it would be good to know who is contributing what to pay for the project.

Norman Beamer - this article is about the *just completed phase of the project*, and the next phase is mentioned. *This article* is more specifically about those who lives on the east side in *E. Palo Alto*, and is not about *Palo Alto*, because it's not *all about Palo Alto*. Once again, a PA resident tries to make it all about PA, and can't just let it be about E. Palo Alto, and that's quite telling.

How many years have passed since February 1998? This is too little too late. The JPA continues to offer us any real solutions. They've been selling us moldy cheese for years.
Clean out the agency and stop this needless spending. Do it right and work better with the US Army Corps to get this fixed.
Enough with the moldly cheese!

@ Jordan
I did the math for you and it has been 20 years since 1998.
Afraid you got it backward on the process. The first 10 years after the flood was focused on forming a new government agency to bridge the two counties and then to pursue the Corp of Engineers as the lead agency for studies and construction. Starting in 2009, that approach was put as a parallel path and the local funding plan was pursued. Since then, Congress eliminates earmarks which are how much of the federal projects got funded. Putting together local regional and state dollars is how this stretch and the key 101 bottleneck got done. The EIR for the upstream project will be coming out in the next months and then an upstream design can be selected. There is already most of the funding lined up to replace Newell and Chaucer bridges.
On the other hand, the JPA could follow your complaint and go back to the Corp to beg for dollars for the next 20 years and have nothing happen. And go tell East Palo Alto that this is too little, too late. This provides them historic protection of their homes and lives.

This story starts at the end of the water system. The front of this water system is the dam on SU property that is more than 100 years old. Much has been written and discussed about the dam with all of the plusses and negatives. A similar dam and problems was on the Carmel river and it was broken down and moved so that water can empty on a continual basis and flooding of the down stream city of Carmel is now eliminated. Yes you have corrected one portion of the problem but the source of the problem has not been addressed. Typical backward problem definition and resolution.
Please when reporting then report on the system from end to end and what is expected to resolve the upper river problem of the dam.

How long does it take to get this right? The JPA lost the way with their puny proposals.
Quit selling us that this will be fixed anytime soon. Stop selling us moldy formage!
You are sounding like our President.

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Hello JPA,
Get this fixed and quit fussy pooting around. We have the money but not the will or the engineering brains. Do you understand how much cubic volume (molecular weight) water coming under the Pope Chaucer Bridge can handle? Apparently not. Get some more leadership in the JPA and council members that really ask tough questions.