Iron Horse Regional Trail

Iron Horse Regional Trail is a rail path in California's East Bay Area for cyclists, horse riders, and bicycles.

 

This trail is situated in the inland central counties of Alameda and Contra Costa, largely following a right of way for the Southern Pacific Railway, built in 1891 and abandoned in 1977. Around that point, the two counties acquired the right of way, planning to use it as a transport corridor; in 1986, the Iron Horse Trail was first established. In 2003, BART also wanted to use the right of way through Pleasanton for a DMU line from Walnut Creek station to Tracy.

 

The trail passes the towns of Pleasanton, Dublin, San Ramon, Danville, Alamo, Walnut Creek, Pleasant Hill and Concord. Once completed, the trail will extend from Livermore in central Alameda County to Suisun Bay at the northern edge of Contra Costa County, a distance of more than 40 miles (64 km) linking two counties and nine communities. The trail also links directly to both the BART stations at Dublin / Pleasanton and Pleasant Hill.

 

Eastern Bay Regional Park District manages the trail. It is a wheelchair accessible paved trail in some areas, along with nearby unpaved or soft trails.

 

To order to help boost traffic flow, the Iron Horse Regional Trail has multiple bridges over busy roads; two notable ones cross Ygnacio Valley Road to Walnut Creek and Treat Boulevard in Contra Costa Centre. New bridges are in the process of construction.

 

Despite initial skepticism, and even opposition, the trail is now an important corridor for transportation and recreation. One million journeys are made on the route each year.

 

Pleasanton/Alameda County segments
 

Initially the city of Pleasanton decided not to maintain the corridor within its city limits. While the East Bay Regional Park District (EBRPD) still owned the right of way, many projects encompassing the corridor, most notably Hacienda Business Park, were built.

 

The first work on the trail at Pleasanton began in March 2006, establishing a new segment on the south side of the city about 1 mile (1.6 km) long. This section started service in March 2008.

 

This left a gap in the road, about 1.6 miles (2.6 km) long, running from the Dublin side of the Dublin / Pleasanton BART station to Santa Rita Road at the intersection of Stoneridge Drive, where the current segment begins.

 

Starting in June 2010, the EBRPD, City of Pleasanton, and Callander Associates landscape architects held public forums to explore strategies within the community for completing the trail.

 

The Pleasanton City Council voted in February 2011 to ratify the master plan established by EBRPD based on those meetings. This has received $4 million in state and federal funds to complete this portion of the trail. Building started in May 2013, and the section opened on July 25, 2014.

 

The project accommodated many barriers, including passing through an existing business center, two city parks, a residential building, an apartment complex, and three at-grade crossings of busy roads; it connects at the intersection of two main streets with the earlier southern portion.

 

In April 2013, a new trail path opened along Stanley Boulevard on the northside of Shadow Cliffs Lake in unincorporated Alameda County. It leaves a distance of 1.6 miles (0.97 km) between the end of the trail's Pleasanton section and the west end of this new segment, starting at the east end of the segment's Livermore city limits. The East Pleasanton Specific Plan Project includes plans to fill the distance along potential extensions to Stanley Boulevard to Busch Road and El Charro Road.