MARTINEZ — Pedestrians and cyclists within the Bay Area will soon be 4 miles closer to having the ability to explore a continuous coastal path through nine counties and 47 cities, thanks to almost $2 million in recent federal funding for the San Francisco Bay Trail.
Congressman John Garamendi recently awarded Contra Costa County $1 million for improvements along a 3.2-mile stretch of San Pablo Avenue. The plan is to convert one in all the 4 lanes right into a “complete street” with a protected path between Rodeo and Crockett, a project currently estimated to cost $13.7 million.
Garmendi also distributed $900,000 to the East Bay Regional Park District to fill a half-mile gap between the present George Miller Regional Trail and the Amtrak Intermodal Station in downtown Martinez with a continuous, paved trail. Once the project, estimated to cost greater than $4 million, is accomplished, Regional Trail users may have uninterrupted access to Vallejo, Benicia, Crockett and Martinez.
Garamendi, who represents California’s eighth District, said this Federal funds for joint projects were included in the primary budget package for 2024, which was finalized in March.
“These projects will make previously underinvested communities more livable, with safer, less congested streets and better options for walking, biking or taking the train to work or school,” Garamendi said. “This has all been made possible by the dedication and passion of dozens of local leaders.”
Jeff Valeros, a senior civil engineer within the Contra Costa County Department of Public Works, estimates that after construction begins, crews may not begin constructing on the San Pablo Avenue section until 2027. He said the project will likely take two years due to must bypass existing traffic interchanges on the busy road.
“We want to make sure that pedestrians and cyclists do not find themselves in a situation where they have to move in a really uncomfortable and inconvenient way next to the trucks and vehicles that are driving there,” said Valeros.
For nearly 4 many years, Bay Area officials have worked to finish the 500-mile trail, which was the brainchild of State Senator Bill Lockyer in 1986.
Colin Coffey, a member of the East Bay Regional Park District (EBRPD) board of directors that represents the northern shoreline from Hercules to Brentwood, said that along with the challenges of addressing the complex geography and terrain along this stretch in Contra Costa County, the gap-filling project between Berrellesa Street in downtown Martinez and the hills of the George Miller Regional Trail has been delayed by regulatory issues, largely related to the railroad tracks that Amtrak and Union Pacific trains run on.
“The easy parts of the Bay Trail are done,” Coffey said. “When you look at the system of trails and parks in the East Bay, it's just remarkable that we have leaders and community members who are really supportive of dedicating time and money to this work.”
In June 2018, the EBRD concluded a 13.2 million dollars, 335 meter long bridge over the railroad tracks in Pinole along the Bay Trail – a one-fifth-mile project that was one in all the agency’s costliest and sophisticated in recent memory. A one-mile extension of the trail behind the now-closed Golden Gate Fields race track – stretching from Gilman Street in Berkeley to Albany Beach – was accomplished in July 2020. Built over two years, the $18.9 million project filled one in all the biggest gaps on the 18 miles from Richmond to Oakland.
Contra Costa County Executive John Gioia, who lives on Bay Trail in Richmond, said he’s pleased to see the progress of those projects, which can positively impact the health and equity of historically low-income, disadvantaged communities.
“These are expensive projects, but they're about health, equity and providing access to the bay and a means of transportation,” Gioia said. “I see every day the variety of uses this trail has – people of all ages, races and ethnicities, people fishing, walking their dogs, taking their kids out and about… Without federal funding, we often can't really complete these projects.”
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