DUBLIN — Design changes to the future Alameda County juvenile justice facility and East County Hall of Justice were easily approved Tuesday.

The City Council voted 4-0 in favor of a slightly downsized courthouse facility on the east side of town, on Gleason Drive between Madigan Road and Arnold Drive. Council member Kate Scholz missed the meeting.

Original plans approved in 2004 called for a 208,408-square-foot facility. Tuesday the council approved a 196,219-square-foot courthouse plan that includes a 300-foot setback from Gleason Drive. The new design also calls for the larger portion of the building to be located on the northern portion of the 21.77 acre site.

“I really appreciate that the taller building has been stepped back from the residents,” Vice Mayor Kasie Hildenbrand said. “That has always been a concern of mine and it won’t be such a large building looming over those homes.”

The courthouse is scheduled for completion in late 2013. It will include 13 courtrooms with offices, support services and a landscaped courtyard area off the cafeteria. The new plans also include increased parking from 850 spaces to 865.

The plans still need approval by the Alameda County Board of Supervisors. Once completed, the courthouse will replace the rented facility the county is using on Stoneridge Drive in Pleasanton.

Read the complete article by Robert Jordan, Contra Costa Times.

Tags: Dublin Updates, Newsroom by Tim Sbranti
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Last week was definitely exciting for trail advocates as both the Dublin City Council and the Alameda County Congestion Management Agency (CMA) approved the final pieces of funding to finish the Alamo Canal Trail.

The Alamo Canal Trail is begins off of Amador Valley Boulevard near the intersection of the Dog Park, Dougherty Hills Open Space Park, the Alamo Creek Trail, and the Iron Horse Trail. It runs parallel to the west of Dougherty Road on a path next to the Alamo Canal, goes under Dublin Boulevard near Athens Burgers, and ends behind the Dublin Library.

For many years the paved path ends at a locked gate, but there is the ability to continue the trail under I-580 into Pleasanton. Both the cities of Dublin and Pleasanton have identified the completion of this trail as a high priority for many years because of the lack of safe pedestrian and bicycle connectivity between our cities. It is also an important component of Dublin’s trail network due to its proximity and intersection with other trails and pedestrian/bicycling oriented amenities. Once this project is completed, there will be a safe pathway for both commuters and recreational users.

Now that the funding has been identified, the next step is to complete the NEPA, which is the federal government’s environmental review process. Once the NEPA is finalized in the first half of 2010, construction and completion of the trail can take place in fiscal year 2010-2011.

Tags: Tim's Travels by Tim Sbranti
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At the Livermore Amador Valley Transit Authority (LAVTA) meeting on December 7^th, our Board of Directors unanimously approved modifications to Bus Route 202 to dramatically reduce the commute time from eastern Dublin to Dublin High School.

The current commute time from the beginning of the route to DHS is 34 minutes with nearly a dozen stops. Although the bus route is typically filled with students, many others refuse to take the bus because it is so time consuming. I spoke to LAVTA’s General Manager about this issue in October and asked their staff to look into how we can reduce the time of the route. LAVTA staff studied the issue and decided to split the route into two buses, meaning that each route will have only half of the stops. It is estimated that the new routes will take only 21 minutes from beginning to end, which is nearly a 40% reduction in time.

Funding to pay for the cost of providing the extra bus will be paid for from money saved from the elimination of an under-performing route. It is also anticipated that the convenience of the new route will significantly increase riders and revenue. Dublin Unified School District Dr. Stephen Hanke was really excited about this opportunity to better serve students from the eastern portion of the City by making the campus more accessible to them.

Tags: Tim's Travels by Tim Sbranti
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