Callander Associates has been
involved in four important Rails to Trails projects throughout
California over the past fifteen years. Two of these projects
have been completed while the remaining projects are at various
stages of the design process. While the four projects share
a common history of railroad use, they differ widely in every
other area including design, funding mechanisms, community outreach,
and context. It is these differences that were highlighted in
a presentation during the 19th California Trails and Greenways
Conference through the use of completed site photographs, illustrative
renderings, narrative text, and discussion. The following are
the four projects with key aspects highlighted.
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Monterey Recreation
Trail
Monterey, California |
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Three miles of pedestrian
and bicycle trail were developed for the City of Monterey along
an old Southern Pacific railroad right-of-way. The trail takes
users to some of Monterey’s most scenic areas including
the historic Cannery Row, Monterey Aquarium, Shoreline Park,
and Fisherman’s Wharf. With the trail adjacent to residential
and commercial properties, Callander Associates addressed the
concerns of local residents and businesses at a series of community
workshops and public meetings. Over eighteen months of patience
and persistence in agency processing provided trail approval
from the Joint Powers Agency, Coastal Commission, Caltrans,
State Department of Parks and Recreation, and other agencies.
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Tidewater
Bikeway
Manteca, California |
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The abandonment of the old Tidewater Railway
corridor through Manteca provided the City with a tremendous
opportunity for recreation and transportation in the heart of
the City. The Tidewater Bikeway is a three and a half mile long,
multi-use pathway extending from the northern to the southern
City limits. Treating the bikeway as a linear park rather than
simply as a paved path, the final design improves the entire
corridor, which is up to one hundred feet in width. The community
not only embraced the design and planning process as a model
for future public projects, but has also adopted many of the
design standards for the downtown revitalization.
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BART Linear
Park
South San Francisco,
California |
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The construction of underground tunnels
for the BART extension to Millbrae has generated large expanses
of open space. As BART moved forward with a proposed bike trail
alignment within this space, the City of South San Francisco
felt it was important to partner in the process to help guide
the alignment through the City. Callander Associates was retained
to study existing City documents including the bicycle facilities
plan, current land use plans, newly developed transit oriented
development plans, and other documents as well as the project
site. Through this study, and meetings with City staff, a conceptual
design was developed which aided in the award of a MTC planning
grant and continuation of plan development and community outreach.
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Virginia
Corridor
Modesto, California |
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| This four mile segment of the Tidewater
railway corridor effectively will link the northern limits of
the City of Modesto to the southern limits through the downtown
core. This multi-use trail and linear park will become an integral
part of the City’s non-motorized transportation system
connecting residents to numerous parks, schools, retail/commercial
centers, and much more. The project is currently in the planning
phases and the initial pilot project is anticipated to be completed
by 2004. |
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