Bay Trail Gap Closure - City of Richmond, CA
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The Bay Trail is a planned recreational corridor that, when complete, will encircle San Francisco and San Pablo Bays with a continuous 500-mile network of bicycling and hiking trails. It will connect the shoreline of all nine Bay Area counties, link 47 cities, and cross the major toll bridges in the region. To date, approximately 310 miles of the alignment, over 60 percent of the Bay Trail’s ultimate length, have been completed. The Bay Trail provides easily accessible recreational opportunities for outdoor enthusiasts, including hikers, joggers, bicyclists and skaters. It also offers a setting for wildlife viewing and environmental education, and it increases public respect and appreciation for the Bay. It also has important transportation benefits, providing a commute alternative for cyclists, and connecting to numerous public transportation facilities (including ferry terminals, light-rail lines, bus stops and Caltrain, Amtrak, and BART stations); also, the Bay Trail will eventually cross all the major toll bridges in the Bay Area.
The City of Richmond contracted Pakpour Consulting Group to prepare plans, specifications and cost estimate for the construction of a gap closure of the bay trail from Ferry Point to Kaiser Shipyard No. 3. The trail previously detoured inland and away from the shore for about two miles and required a 120 foot climb over Seacliff Drive and then along an isolated portion of Canal Boulevard. This project provided both pedestrians and bicyclists a 1/3-mile, Class I shoreline trail as a short, scenic alternative to a two-mile Bay Trail route inland along an industrial street. The new scenic trail directly links Shipyard 3 Bay Trail in Rosie the Riveter/WWII Home Front National Historical Park with the Brickyard Cove residential and yachting area, Miller/Knox Regional Shoreline, Point Richmond Historical District and Washington Elementary School.
The project required coordination with the Association of Bay Area Governments Bay Trail Project, East Bay Regional Park District, National Park Service, Point Richmond Neighborhood Council, Richmond Bicycle and Pedestrian Advisory Committee and Trails for Richmond Action Committee. This trail segment is included in the San Francisco Bay Trial Plan and the planned update to Richmond’s General Plan.
