Iron Horse Regional Trail

For other trails referred to as Iron Horse Trail, see Iron Horse Trail (disambiguation) .

A converted railroad bridge crosses Walnut Creek at the Concord-Pleasant Hill boundary

The Iron Horse Regional Trail is a pedestrian and bicycle rail trail in the East San Francisco Bay Area in California.

This trail is located in inland central Alameda and Contra Costa counties, mostly following a Southern Pacific Railroad right of way established in 1891 and abandoned in 1977. The two counties purchased the right of way at that time, intending to use it as a transportation corridor; the Iron Horse Trail was first established in 1986.

The trail passes through the cities of Pleasanton, Dublin, San Ramon, Danville, Alamo, Walnut Creek, Pleasant Hill and Concord. When completed, the trail will span from Livermore in central Alameda County to Suisun Bay at the northern edge of Contra Costa County, a distance of over 40 miles (64 km) connecting two counties and nine communities. The trail also directly connects to both the Dublin/Pleasanton and Pleasant Hill BART stations.

The Iron Horse Regional Trail has several bridges over busy thoroughfares to help improve traffic flow; two notable ones cross over Ygnacio Valley Road and Treat Boulevard in Walnut Creek. Additional bridges are in the planning process.

The Pleasanton "gap"

In the early 1980s, the city of Pleasanton chose not to preserve the portion of the right of way going through the city, and no work to develop the Iron Horse Trail in Pleasanton was done until 2006. In the intervening period, multiple developments were built along the corridor, most notably Hacienda Business Park, although the East Bay Regional Park District still controlled the right of way.

In March 2006, work began on a new leg of the trail, about 1 mile (1.6 km) long, on the south side of Pleasanton. This segment opened in March 2008, leaving a gap in the trail extending from the Dublin side of the Dublin/Pleasanton BART station for approximately 1.6 miles (2.6 km) to Santa Rita Road near the Stoneridge Drive intersection, where the new leg began on the east side of Santa Rita Road.

In June 2010, the East Bay Regional Park District, City of Pleasanton and contracted company Callander Associates held the first of a series of public meetings to discuss options for completing the trail along the corridor gap. Numerous challenges will need to be addressed, including providing a route through the BART station itself, several at-grade crossings of busy roads, and paths through and alongside the business park, two city parks, a residential development with playgrounds on the corridor, and an apartment complex.

External links

• Iron Horse Regional Trail - East Bay Regional Park
• Iron Horse Regional Trail Page on RailsToTrails.us
• Nearby Hiking Trails in Contra Costa County - Walnut Creek Wiki