By Scott Bartlebaugh
Here is an update on some of the advocacy activities that we’re working on at BTCEB.
You’ll begin to see some messaging from the Trails are Common Ground campaign in our social media feeds. This campaign has been created by a collective group of trail users including mountain bikers, hikers, equestrians, trail runners, and motorized trail users. It aims to improve trail experiences for all trail users and emphasizes education on trail etiquette / courtesy and being accepting, inclusive and welcoming of all identities, backgrounds, abilities, and speeds.
E-Bike policy
The EBRPD Park Advisory Committee was scheduled to discuss E-bike policy related to natural surface trails during September but the discussion has been delayed until staff have further time to prepare for the discussion.
BTCEB supports the policy position made by CAMTB which essentially endorses class 1 e-bike use on trails open to regular bikes and has submitted this input to EBPRD. We feel the benefits far outweigh the potential negative impacts. E-bikes allow a variety of people including the elderly, groups of varying abilities, and diverse others to experience nature and access areas of the parks they would not be able to otherwise. Additionally they allow individuals a means to more enjoyably and safely climb steep fire and ranch roads that were not designed with recreation in mind, but sadly, are the majority of the routes open to bicycles currently. Current research indicated that e-bike impact on trails on a per mile basis is similar to bikes. Allowing increased e-bike access would likely bring more users to the trails legally. The EBRPD PAC work plan has not been updated to indicate when they will discuss e-bike access policy.
Roddy Ranch Open House
EBRPD held an open house of the Roddy Ranch property in the Brentwood/Antioch area. A portion of the property was open to walk on the remaining paved golf cart paths, many of which will be removed. At this point it is looking like their next round of design will retain a large portion of the multi-use trails with bike access in their Option C (Focus on Flow) – Planners estimated it would be 4-5 years until the property would be opened to the public.
You can find more information regarding Roddy Ranch and the park district process at EBRPD.
EBRPD Bike Bell Project
Work continues with East Bay Regional Park District and the East Bay Regional Parks Foundation on a pilot bike bell program. The program will provide bike bell stations where cyclists can borrow a bell to use while riding to help communicate to other trail users that they are approaching. Sometimes during even our best efforts to communicate verbally to other trail users bikes can be very quiet and calling out still ends up being a startling experience for other trail users particularly when bikes are approaching from behind. A continuous bell provides an earlier notification and helps other trail users get a feel for how fast a bike is approaching. Bells can be effective in areas with blind turns or particularly when bikes are descending a trail. The bells are a continuously ringing small cow bell type bell with a velcro loop to attach to handlebars. The bell can be silenced by flopping it on a brake or shift cable housing.
EBRPD Small Trails Crew
The EBRPD established a Small Trails Crew several seasons ago and the crew is continuing and the program is slowly expanding. The ‘Small’ refers largely to a narrow trails focus as compared to the EBRPD Roads and Trails crews. The STC is a step by the EBRPD to provide increased maintenance to narrow trails within the district and a recognition that narrow trails have value and need more maintenance.
Patrick Demmons is the lead for the STC and he brings a commitment to doing quality work, continued learning about trail maintenance and construction, and what the various users are looking for in the trails. The crew was recently out at Crockett Hills when they had access to a Sutter ST 300 trail machine with plans to do work on Goldfinch trail. Attempts to get access to this machine earlier in the year when moisture levels in the dirt are more favorable didn’t work out and this was the available time frame. Even with a water tender it turned out to be impractical to get good results under the current conditions and the decision was made to stop for now and return hopefully early next year when moisture conditions are favorable and the district will have received their own Sutter ST 300.
The Small Trails Crew is a step to adding people, equipment, and knowledge to improve the maintenance and construction their trails.
You can find some nice photography of their work on Instagram @pdemmonstrails.
Carnegie OHV Expansion Halted – Parcel to Become State Park
For about 20 years the California State Parks has been trying to add 3000 acres to the smallish Carnegie SVRA. There was local resistance from the start and while it appeared that headway was being made to expand Carnegie, things dragged out and a court ordered that instead of part of the 3000 acres be opened for OHV use that the entire addition must be added as a state park. State officials are presenting it as a win-win; the OHV division originally paid $9M for the property and will now get $31M to find an OHV property elsewhere. We are inquiring as to what the public land planning process for the new state park will be and the points for public participation to advocate for trails and bike access. Read more about in the Mercury News.
Franklin Canyon RV Resort Project
There is a project proposed to convert the Franklin Canyon Golf Course to an RV Park/Campground. Included in this project would be a parking lot with access directly off highway 4 and a trail connection into John Muir Land Trust’s Fernandez Ranch.This project falls under the Hercules Planning Commission who began discussing this project in their September meeting and will continue discussion in the October 4th meeting.
At this point neither the project nor JMLT are anticipating the addition of any significant new trails but it would create and additional access point and could play a part in creating future routes to access the park by bike rather than a car.
Public Comment Calendar
If you’d like to be added to a public comment opportunity email list, send a message to advocacy@btceb.org. We will message out via email on particular public comment opportunities.
- EBRPD Board Meeting
Friday November 2nd, 1 pm - EBRPD Board Meeting
Tuesday November 16th, 1 pm - EBRPD Board Meeting
December 7th, 6 pm - Walnut Creek Parks Recreation and Open Space Commission
Monday December 6th, 6:00 pm
Item: Lime Ridge Flow Trail / Trail Committee Recommendations - EBRPD Board Meeting
Tuesday December 21st, 1 pm
