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Station Area Master Plan – Transportation Context
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Downtown Morgan Hill is
aligned with SPU
R 1 in that it
locates jobs and housing near
transit
within
a
walkable
downtown. Based on widely
accepted best practices in the
field
of
transit-oriented
development and SPUR’s 2017
report titled “Rethinking the
Corporate Campus”, experts in the
field of transportation planning use the limit of an acceptable walking distance between a
quarter-mile to a half-mile from public transit stop or parking area to their destination as
a design guideline. Most of Morgan Hill’s Downtown and PDA area is within a half-mile
walking distance of the station (about a 10-minute walk), and the Downtown Core is within
a quarter-mile or 5-minute walk, as shown in
Figure 1-3.SPUR uses the Walk Score
methodology
( www.walkscore.com/methodology )to evaluate the walkability of downtowns by
giving them a score between 0-100 based on walkable access to personal services, shopping,
schools, etc. Downtown Morgan Hill has a walkability score of 86, which is considered very
walkable. (Se
e Figure 1-2.)Downtown Morgan Hill‘s Transit Score, which evaluates how well an
area Is served by transit, is 42 or “some transit” at this time. This plan provides tools to further
improve transportation services and facilities within the Station Area as Morgan Hill grows.
1
The San Francisco Bay Area Planning and Urban Research Association (SPUR) is a member-
supported nonprofit organization with offices in San Francisco, San Jose and Oakland that has an
independent and holistic approach to solve urban issues.
Figure 1-2: The walk score for Monterey Road at the intersection of 3
rd
Street and Monterey Road is based on the above categories.