Faced with trickling taps for freeway financing, Caltrans and San Jose worked together in a halting process that kept the Guadalupe residents hanging by a thread. The city had money to demolish the homes a couple of years ago, but held back because county Measure A, which would have funded the project, was tied up in the courts. In response, the city decided to drop several projects that were left only partially funded and funnel money only to the most pressing ventures. And both San Jose and Santa Clara County had tagged the Guadalupe expansion as the region's top transportation priority. They don't really believe us when we say now we have the money, we're going to do the project.
Broken expectations are, however, just the half of it.
Fernandes has a daughter who will graduate from nearby Lincoln High School in June. She can walk to work from where she lives, because she hates driving. She sees no reason to move unless she is quite sure she has to. We got conflicting stories. She has built her day-care business over many years, making her reluctant to move.