SMART OKs Funding for Bike/Pedestrian Path Through Rohnert Park

The accompanying along the route of the Sonoma-Marin Area Rail Transit corridor — from San Rafael-Santa Rosa — is a key component to the $359.9 million project, say SMART planners.

The board this week approved funding for the , from Southwest Boulevard to Golf Course Drive. Total cost of the pathway is locally is set at nearly $4 million — $789,000 of which will come from SMART and an additional $3 million in federal monies.

"Design, environmental review and permitting for this project will begin next year, with construction anticipated to take place during 2013-2014 construction season," according to a news release.

“We commend the SMART Board for taking a key step toward creating this critical North/South connector for bicycle riders and pedestrians,” said BikeSonoma Outreach Director Sandra Lupien. “Many people have expressed concern about the status of the multi-use path. While we’ve remained confident of the SMART Board's promise to develop the path as an integral part of the project, the decision to fund this segment reaffirms the Board's commitment that SMART is rail and trail.”

The cost of the multi-use path is currenty estimated at $67.3 million along the 44‐mile pathway that would linking seven cities from Windsor to San Rafael. SMART planners expect as many as 10,000 people a day to use the path.

Additionally, the SMART board in July approved an additional $17.6 million to fund the bike/pedestrian path.

“One segment at a time,” said Gary Helfrich, BikeSonoma executive director, and a former transportation planner for Sonoma County, “that’s how every public works project gets done. Funding for large-scale transportation projects is complicated, it’s not often linear, and it comes in fits and starts. The SMART Board has seized an opportunity to use available funds to do something great for anyone who wants to ride a bicycle, walk, or rollerblade. It’s putting wheels in motion, and it’s a sign of more to come.”

The pathway fits in Rohnert Park's emerging vision of , and the city's general plan, which calls for a focused effort to build more compact, mixed-use development and pedestrian-oriented areas.

Although SMART has laid out plans for a 70-mile bicycle and pedestrian path from Cloverdale to the Larkspur ferry terminal in Marin County, right now SMART is focusing on the 37-mile San Rafael to Santa Rosa segment, which it has outlined funding for.

SMART approved its balanced financial plan in August, with a pricetag of about $360 million. The entire project is expected to cost $690 million, according to SMART — the majority of which is being paid for by a voter-approved quarter cent sales tax. The trains are expected to start running in 2014.