Signing this Yolo-Delta Trail Coalition (City of West Sacramento, Yolo County, Yolo County Transportation District, and Delta Protection Commission) MOU will formalize the team’s project dedication and demonstrate the regional partnership for this project to the Sacramento Area Council of Governments (SACOG) Carbon Reduction Program grant evaluation team.
Background
The Yolo-Delta Trail Coalition will be submitting a grant application for $2 million to the SACOG Carbon Reduction Program for the Great California Delta Trail - Clarksburg Branch Line Extension Project by February 29, 2024. With these funds, the Coalition (formed through a partnership between the City of West Sacramento, Yolo County, Yolo Transportation District, and the Delta Protection Commission) will be able to advance this key active transportation corridor through project development to form a “shovel-ready” project that will implement not only SACOG’s regional trail network, but also several regional and local transportation planning efforts, including the Great California Delta Trail.
In 2006, the California Legislature authorized a plan to adopt the “Great California Delta Trail,” a continuous mega-regional recreational corridor extending through the Delta, linking the San Francisco Bay Trail system to the Sacramento River trails in Yolo and Sacramento Counties. For years the City of West Sacramento has worked diligently to improve access to the Sacramento River waterfront and to develop active transportation corridors linking the six county Sacramento Regional Trail Network with this emerging trail system through all five Delta counties. The City of West Sacramento currently owns 10.8 miles of the former Yolo Short Line Railroad corridor into the community of Clarksburg. This planned active transportation corridor is reflected not only in the SACOG regional trail network and implements the Great Delta Trail Master Plan but is also identified for implementation in the Yolo County Bicycle Master Plan, the Yolo Active Transportation Corridors Plan, and the West Sacramento Bicycle, Pedestrian, and Trails Master Plan.
Project development and the ultimate construction of this corridor will advance multiple regional priorities, including:
- Reducing transportation-related carbon emissions through implementation of a Class I multi-use trail linking residents of the Clarksburg community to the regional urban center, enabling safe bicycle commuting to a frequently visited and popular tourist destination, and extending high-speed fiber-optic data connectivity to Clarksburg for work-from-home.
- Expanding regional recreation opportunities including equestrian, walking/jogging, and bicycling and improved community health and fitness for all by increasing public trail access, including for economically disadvantaged residents in West Sacramento and Sacramento.
- Increasing safety for bicyclists and pedestrians currently using South River Road or Jefferson Boulevard for active transportation and recreation where no bicycle or pedestrian facilities currently exist, and significantly reduces bicycle commuting distance from Clarksburg.
- Incorporating inclusion and equity through engagement of local tribal governments and historians to develop and apply an educational component of the project using educational interpretive signs, wayfinding signs, trailhead design, and other related design elements that communicate the history of the railroad and its impact on Indigenous peoples and the environment.
- Expanding regional economic and business opportunities through work with local organizations, businesses, area wineries, and grape growers to explore marketing and trail adoption concepts for the Clarksburg Branch Line Trail, including the potential for a Yolo-Delta Vine Trail experience, fun run/marathon/triathlon events, and other economic opportunities.
The Carbon Reduction Program was specifically developed to offer sustainable mobility options and alternatives to driving alone, implement the regional trail network, and develop projects that have the potential to reduce carbon emissions, and this project accomplishes all three objectives.
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