The East Bay Regional Park District is in the process of updating their park Master Plan. This is a roughly once a decade activity that provides direction and commitment by the district to pursue certain things. This is one of the key points in the public process where we can have input and help set the direction for the future. We hope to see stronger language in this update of the master plan for new trails, more bike access and different types of trails such as bike-only downhill directional and different types of access such as directional and time based. We also hope to see clear language regarding adoption of sustainable non-system (such as user-created, social, and bootleg) trails. The lack of access and new trails contributes significantly to user-created trails which do not include stewardship surveys and can have more impact on habitat than planned trail projects.
Please take a few moments to complete the park survey. It’s five open-ended questions, so let them know what’s important to you, what you think the park district should be providing, and especially what they’re not providing. Her are some things you might want to include:
- What type of trails would you like to have? Advanced downhill oriented like the Briones trails, cross country trails, flow trails, etc.
- In which specific parks would you like to see more trails or more bike access?
- How many miles of trail would you like to see in a given trail system?
- Do you want a variety of trail character in a given trail system or a concentration of a certain style/character?
This is the first of three phases of public outreach and input. Please share this with others and ask them to complete the survey. Comment on broader interests you have as well. The master plan is meant to cover the breadth of the park district.
The current master plan was last updated in 2013 and calls for ‘trails for all’. It does not call out how much access would be provided for biking, where that might be, whether it would be multiuse or bike only, or any other characteristics. While it does state at the highest level the park district supports bike access and will work towards more of it this was not sufficient to drive enough significant tangible change. Definitive language in a master plan provides backup to the elected decision-making directors to make bike access happen. At the May 2 Board of Directors Workshop, Directors Coffey, Mercurio, and Waepsi all spoke supporting more mountain bike access. Director Echols and Espana have also supported more bike access to narrow trails. To clarify what this means, we all need to participate in these survey opportunities. If you’ve read to this point and haven’t yet completed the survey, click here and please complete it now.
