Sunnyvale is taking steps to make its downtown more inviting for residents and visitors alike by beautifying its most historic block.
The Sunnyvale City Council on Tuesday unanimously approved concept plans to turn the historic Murphy Avenue block of downtown into a permanent pedestrian mall, with Councilmember Russ Melton absent. The plans include more bike parking near Washington and Evelyn avenues, as well as handrails and sloped paths for better accessibility.
Sunnyvale Downtown Association Executive Director Mike Johnson said the organization and its board support the plans. The concepts have gone through multiple iterations, and he said the new plans balance the various needs of potential visitors and businesses along the street.
“We’ve got about a 2-mile radius that we protect and I think … we’ve done a great job with what we’ve had to work with,” Johnson told San José Spotlight. “I think what’s coming is going to be phenomenal.”
Converting Murphy Avenue into a pedestrian mall is part of a massive facelift Sunnyvale’s downtown is undergoing. For the past several years, developer Cityline has been building up housing and retail in the area, bringing in an AMC theater and Target.
Johnson said it’s important to bring representatives from all types of businesses together to help with the reimagining. Most of the businesses along Murphy Avenue and others in the surrounding area are small or family owned.
Councilmembers asked questions about the plan’s specifics at the meeting, such as more signs for parking and cycling, but ultimately supported the plans. City employees estimated construction could begin by fall 2025 and end as soon as early 2026.
The city council temporarily closed the 100 block of Murphy Avenue to vehicles in 2020 and permanently in early 2023. The renovation will allow the city to take down old stop and parking signs, as well as convert some parking on Washington Avenue for loading and unloading inventory for the businesses.
Councilmember Alysa Cisneros, whose district includes the historic Murphy Avenue, said these renovations will make downtown’s walkability permanent.
“I’m excited for my kids to be able to grow up there, because when I grew up in Sunnyvale, I was in the middle of the suburbs, I couldn’t walk to anything,” Cisneros told San José Spotlight.
The renovations are only part of the overall downtown redesign, which Johnson estimated to be more than halfway done. Cityline is still in its second phase of development, with two major features yet to be built — Block 6, at the intersection of McKinley and Murphy avenues, and another parcel at the intersection of McKinley and Mathilda avenues.
Still, he said improvements from the redesign have been coming to fruition and people are taking notice. One of the new apartment buildings, The Martin, has been open for about four months and already surpassed 60% occupancy, which Johnson regards as a major accomplishment.
The city has been building up affordable housing in the downtown area as well, which Cisneros called an important strategy to place housing right next to the resources low-income residents may need.
The Sunnyvale Caltrain station is right beside historic Murphy Avenue, and the city also opened Redwood Park late last month at the corner of McKinley and Murphy avenues.
“There’s so much opportunity in District 2 and the downtown area, we’re truly fortunate to have these kinds of opportunities,” Cisneros told San José Spotlight.
Contact B. Sakura Cannestra at [email protected] or @SakuCannestra on X, formerly known as Twitter.
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