By Tom Boss, MCBC
Dear BTCEB members,
We are asking for your support by completing the MCBC Letter of Support for construction to allow bicycle access in Mount Tamalpais State Park. Currently, there are no safe routes for cyclists to access Mountain Theater and Ridgecrest Boulevard from Pantoll Road. This project on Easy Grade Trail will improve safety, reduce traffic and provide better connectivity for cyclists on the Bay Area Ridge Trail and Marin County. The project has been approved for construction since 2019. All we are missing are the funds: $483,000.
Fill out this form to support our Special Budget Request to the legislature to fund the construction of this project. You can also find the Letter of Support we’ve already sent here.
Details on the Project
California State Parks is moving a change-in-use proposal forward and now requests comments from the public. This is the opportunity to make your voice heard. Act now to support this proposal and spread the word to your riding partners.
Easy Grade Trail is one of three existing trails that connect Old Stage Fire Road near Pantoll Station with the Mountain Theater and Rock Spring Fire Road. It is currently open to hikers only. CA State Parks is proposing a change-in-use to a hiker/biker trail, following modifications to address user safety and pre-existing environmental impacts. The nearby Bootjack Trail will remain hiker only and Old Mine Trail will remain hiker/equestrian.
The project will:
- address safety of bicyclists,
- close a gap in the Bay Area Ridge Trail and
- allow for environmental enhancements in the area.
Easy Grade Trail Change-In-Use…
- …would provide a much safer option than the current practice of cycling along Pan Toll Road, which is narrow, has no shoulders and significant vehicle traffic.
- …would provide a shorter route between Pantoll Station and Rock Spring Fire Road, which is a natural corridor for getting from one side of the mountain to the other.
- …would provide a car-free route from downtown Mill Valley to the Mountain Theater, which will encourage more people to visit the facility under their own power, rather than by car or bus.
- …adopts an existing trail, which avoids the environmental impacts and high costs associated with new trail construction.
- …avoids displacement of equestrians by utilizing a trail that is currently closed to them.
- …closes a significant user gap for bicyclists in the Bay Area Ridge Trail, a multi-use trail system that circumnavigates the San Francisco Bay.
- …does not effect two parallel trails that provide hikers with alternate options.
MCBC has identified the Easy Grade Trail as a high priority trail project – part of our 3 Gaps Trail Initiative which will provide a contiguous off-road route from the Golden Gate Bridge to Olema when complete. The two additional sections include Dias Ridge Trail Phases II & III, which will connect the Dias Ridge Trail with Coast View Trail, and adoption of the old Liberty Gulch ranch road near Azalea Hill in Fairfax, which would connect the Mt. Tam side of the MMWD watershed, with the Pine Mountain side.
Thank you, BTCEB members, for taking the time to help increase trail access in Marin!
