The Petaluma Ring Trail in
the General Plan
From: Bruce Hagen
Date: September 13, 2006
Nutshell
Summary: The new General Plan should make provision for the
creation of a Petaluma Ring Trail, a series of walking/bicycling trails along
and near the Urban Growth Boundary /Urban Separator that form a continuous ring
around the City.
What is
the Petaluma Ring Trail?
The Petaluma Ring Trail will be a continuous trail around
the City. Initially, it would be a mixture of existing, planned, and potential
paths and routes. In some places it might be a sidewalk, or even a temporary
route along a wide shoulder. Other areas might have gaps, where there is
presently no safe place to designate an official trail. Over the life of this
General Plan, and possibly beyond, the City would fill in the gaps, striving
for the creation of a continuous off-street trail. In some places it might
split and rejoin, offering the traveler alternative routes.
Petaluma’s current General Plan incorporates a Bicycle Plan
which designates on-street routes (Class 3), along-street bike lanes(Class 2),
and off-street paths (Class 1) for pedestrian and bicycle travel. Some of these
pathways are within the urban separator along the City’s border, especially on
the east side of town. Within the past
few years, the PPBAC has recommended inclusion of trail segments for new
development projects, especially along the south and southwest parts of town.
The trail construction would vary to meet environmental
conditions: in some places, like where it borders the Urban Separator and
residential subdivisions in the east, a 10 wide concrete sidewalk makes sense.
In the hilly regions on the south and west, a single-track hiking/equestrian dirt
trail works best. Wide multi-use paths constructed from quarry fines are an
attractive, economical choice for well-traveled level areas, especially in
expansive soils and along creeks.
The trail, if thought of as a necklace would have a wide
variety jewels strung along the way. Major destinations such as parks, playing
fields, nature preserves, and schools would be the big stones. The smaller
stones would include benches, trail heads, interpretive kiosks and displays,
scenic overlooks, and water fountains. When thought of as the rim of the wheel,
it would connect to spoke trails leading toward various destinations within,
including schools, shopping, civic, and your neighborhood.
Why have a
Petaluma Ring Trail
The benefits of community-supported walking and bicycling
are well recognized: physical and mental health, neighborhood cohesiveness,
crime reduction, reduced pollution and traffic congestion, even increased
tourism. A path encircling the City will be a crown, a keystone, for
How do we
create the Petaluma Ring Trail?
The new General Plan should:
·
make the creation of the Petaluma Ring Trail, as
defined in “What is the Petaluma Ring Trail” above, an explicit goal/objective
·
Establish criteria for evaluating the potential of properties for new trail segments.
·
Require that any proposed public or private
development in proximity to the Urban Separator or UGB be evaluated for
potential links in the PRT. If they meet the critieria, creation of easements
and trails should be required as conditions of approval for the development
·
Direct the City should pursue filling of missing
links by allocating General, Redevelopment and Special District funding, and by
seeking external funding (
·
Guide/direct the City Council, City Manager, and
Director of Community Development to provide strong and clear guidance to the
Community Development staff to pursue additions to the Ring Trail whenever
opportunities arise; while the PPBAC and other volunteer organizations
(Petaluma Green Lane, Sonoma County Bicycle Coalition, Rotary) have a
supportive role to play, they should not have take over from or even work
against City staff.
Appendix A
Key to Petaluma Rim Trail Segment Maps
Trail Segment A: Corona to E. Washington
Appendix
B
Walk The Petaluma Rim Trail. By Bruce Hagen, from the
Petaluma
Argus Courier August 6, 2003