Walking and bike trails get Marin OK

Keri Brenner, Marin Independent Journal
March 22, 2006

A plan paving the way for a $25 million bicycle and pedestrian trail network was launched Tuesday [March 22, 2006] by Marin officials.

The Board of Supervisors unanimously approved a plan for Marin's four-year pilot program - one of only four such projects in the nation backed by federal transportation dollars. The other three sites are: Columbia, Mo.; Minneapolis-St. Paul and Sheboygan County, Wis.

"It's really an honor to be singled out and given an opportunity to make something incredible," said county public works director Farhad Mansourian, who presented the plan to the county board along with Craig Tackabery, assistant county public works director.

Mansourian said the first step is to hire a transportation planner to guide the project. The county expects to spend $117,219 annually on the person's salary, of which 75 percent would be reimbursed through the federal grant.

"Our final report is due to Congress on Sept. 30, 2010," Tackabery said. "There's a lot to do between now and then."

In addition to hiring the transportation planner, the county expects to kick off a public outreach effort and convene a new advisory committee on the project in the coming months. A consultant also will be hired to manage the advisory committee process, and help with the first major task - collecting data on how many people use the various trails now in place.

Tackabery said the county will select projects out of 12 bicycle and pedestrian plans already adopted by various towns and cities in Marin.

"We're going to develop a network map that shows all the spots," he said.

Peter Hoch of San Anselmo said the county also should create a Web site specifically for the project to keep people informed of new signs and new trails.

"Every time I see a cyclist go over the Golden Gate Bridge and then look like he's lost and doesn't know what to do next, I think, 'We can do better than this,'" Hoch said.

Activists Deb Hubsmith of the Marin County Bicycle Coalition and Patrick Seidler of Transportation Alternatives for Marin urged county officials to envision the $25 million as seed money to be leveraged into a $100 million trail network where people can move around safely without cars.

"This is an opportunity for all nonmotorized transportation groups to develop a safety grid," Seidler said. "It's not just about bicycles - it's also about pedestrians."

The county expects to spend roughly $6.25 million annually - minus national consultant costs it will share with the other three sites - for the next four years to work on specific trails where the money can have the most impact.

"The hardest part is going to be implementation," Mansourian said. "There's designing, permitting and environmental processes for each project - and it's all federal, so it's pretty complex."

Supervisor Steve Kinsey, who is co-leader of the project along with Supervisor Charles McGlashan, said the $25 million was "chance to cruise with the tailwinds" after a "decade of uphill pedaling" to get a countywide trails network going.

"We're going to be increasing the health of the community and increasing mobility - both at the same time," Kinsey said.

McGlashan agreed.

"We are choking on the single-occupancy car," he said. "This is a thrilling chance to build infrastructure to increase the safety of commuting without a car."

Marin was selected for the program last summer as part of Congress' approval of a $286.5 billion transportation bill. In December, Hubsmith, Tackabery, McGlashan and Kinsey traveled to Washington, D.C., to meet with project staff from the Federal Highway Administration and Rails-to-Trails Conservancy.