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TRANSACTIONS NEWSLETTER ONLINE

March 2003

Bay Trail Takes Shape
Bay Trail in HaywardPhoto: Jack Yaco

Circumnavigating San Francisco Bay by Foot and Bike Getting Easier
San Francisco Bay has always been at our feet, but thanks to a long-term, visionary project, today you can travel miles around its shoreline by bicycle and on foot. The Bay Trail has opened the panorama of our region’s unique 450-square-mile estuary to experiences up-close and personal. You don’t have to be a sailor or own a yacht to enjoy the tremendous variety of human activities and wildlife the Bay supports: marinas, fishing piers, ports, parks and habitat for hundreds of species, from oysters and sea gulls to pelicans, peregrine falcons and sea lions. With springtime in the air, and brand new maps available, now is the perfect time to get out and experience the beauties of the Bay.

Palo Alto sunsetPhoto: Don Weden
The Bay Trail is a discovery route that travels through cities and towns, past historic and cultural points of interest, along beaches and into remote natural areas. The trail network consists of a continuous main path (the “spine”) as well as “spurs” that lead to points of interest close to the shoreline, and inland connectors leading to commercial and residential areas. In San Mateo County, the trail meanders 17 miles from Coyote Point Park to San Carlos, while across the Bay, it runs a straight seven miles along the water’s edge from the San Leandro Marina to the Hayward Regional Shoreline. From San Francisco’s Fisherman’s Wharf, it stretches 20 miles across the Golden Gate Bridge to Sausalito and all the way to Tiburon. Depending on locale and terrain, the trail consists of paved paths, dirt trails, bike lanes, sidewalks or signed bike routes.

Bay Trail in Palo AltoPhoto: Ron Horii
For nearly 3 million people who live within two miles of the route, the Bay Trail serves not only as a refreshing recreational opportunity, but as a transportation corridor connecting bicyclists and pedestrians to residential neighborhoods, schools and colleges, commercial and industrial areas and, most importantly, to public transit. The trail alignment is within two miles of 23 Caltrain, 22 BART, 19 Valley Transportation Authority, five Muni Metro, six Amtrak and two ACE (Altamont Commuter Express) stations, hundreds of bus stops and 10 Bay Area ferry terminals.

When the Bay Trail plan was adopted in 1989, 170 miles already existed, due largely to efforts by the San Francisco Bay Conservation and Development Commission to provide public access to the waterfront. It took a few years to build awareness and momentum, but, according to Bay Trail Project Director Janet McBride, “Piece by piece, the Bay Trail is coming together. In the nine years since we last updated our maps, we’ve added or improved a total of 50 miles.”

MTC has allocated nearly $2 million in federal transportation funds to Bay Trail projects over the past few years. State funds for local communities to construct Bay Trail sections also have increased in recent years, with $7.5 million flowing to the cause from the 2000 Proposition 12 park and open space bond measure.

Private developers are often urged to incorporate public access and construct trail segments as part of new development near the Bay. The surge in bridge construction around the region also is good news for the Bay Trail: Bicycle/pedestrian paths are being incorporated into the new spans being built for the Benicia-Martinez and Carquinez bridges, as well as the new east span of the Bay Bridge. (The Golden Gate and Dumbarton bridges already offer Bay Trail access.) Reuse initiatives for closed military bases have provided still more opportunities to create shoreline access.

Although the trail is more than halfway developed, McBride notes that many of the easier sections have been built, and the more difficult areas remain. Obstacles include industrial operations such as airports and active salt harvesting, hazardous- or toxic-waste clean-up areas, private property, sensitive habitats, and roadways unsafe for bicycles or pedestrians. Trail development in some areas may depend on long-term roadway improvements, such as the possible widening of Highway 37 in the North Bay.

Standing on the shoreline, you can visualize how concepts of the Bay have changed from the days when sailing ships and ferryboats plied the waterways from shore to shore, to an inglorious era of its use as a dumping ground, to our recognition today of the Bay’s inestimable value and the need to restore its natural contours and wetlands. After all, if it were not for San Francisco Bay, we would be just another area.
— Marjorie Blackwell

Chrissy Field
Photo: Don Weden

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