Fremont moves to create new downtown’s ‘Main Street’
“As a contractor prepares work on lengthening the downtown’s key roadway to a vibrant downtown, city leaders have announced plans to celebrate its groundbreaking.
The city will pay Goodfellow Top Grade Construction nearly $6 million to extend Capitol Avenue, which Fremont leaders envision as the new downtown’s “Main Street.”
Meantime, Fremont is finalizing details on using eminent domain to acquire a commercial building that must be torn down to make way for the project, city leaders said.
“The case is still chugging along, and we expect to have possession of the building later this month,” said City Attorney Harvey Levine.
The street extension will begin in August and is expected to be done next spring, said Fremont City Engineer Norm Hughes.
The longer Capitol Avenue will create a visible gateway to the 110-acre area anchored by City Hall near the Fremont BART station.
Goodfellow, selected for the job last week, will extend the road about one-fifth of a mile, roughly the size of a long city block, connecting the Hub Shopping Center on Fremont Boulevard to Gateway Plaza on Paseo Padre Parkway.
The extension also will create gateway entry points from both Fremont Boulevard and Paseo Padre Parkway, making Capitol Avenue the downtown area’s centerpiece street, city leaders said.”
Benedetti, Chris. San Jose Mercury News 11 July 2014.