A new trail will soon provide a safe route for cyclists and pedestrians to go from downtown San Luis Obispo to Cal Poly using a path along the railroad tracks.
“I think it's pretty fun when the train comes," said Brain Wheeler with the City of San Luis Obispo. "I’ve seen it quite a bit, being out on site.”
Wheeler is the manager for the Railroad Safety Trail project. The project will expand the current two-mile trail by another mile, adding a path for cyclists and pedestrians from Taft Street to Pepper Street.
That’s going to add a new way for people to commute from Cal Poly to the downtown area.
“It should help a lot of people who are hesitant to bike to Cal Poly from downtown," Wheeler said. "And to help them use more active modes of transportation.”
Wheeler said the trail expansion has been a top priority for the city, as it aims to reduce greenhouse gas emissions and provide more access to bicyclists and pedestrians.
The city received a $3.24 million grant from the Caltrans Active Transportation Program to help with funding for the $5.2 million dollar project.
“It’s been part of our active transportation plan for many, many years," Wheeler said. "To be able to use federal grant funding to build this project is pretty great.”
Ahead of the upcoming opening for the expansion to the trail, Mill Street and Pepper Street now operate as an all-way stop.
Wheeler said the intersection will stay like that permanently, and that the trail will be opening sometime in the next few weeks as crews finish final touches.
But, Wheeler said, their goals to continue the Railroad Safety Trail don’t stop there, with plans for the trail to eventually follow the railroad from the northern city limits all the way through the southern city limits.
“But that requires a lot of buy-in, mainly from Union Pacific," Wheeler said. "So, in the meantime, we are looking at on-street options to connect where we are ending right now at Pepper and Mill Street all the way to the railroad station.”
