Rain or shine, every day finds a burgeoning number of bikers, hikers, dog walkers, rollerbladers, scooters and skateboarders pounding the asphalt of the 26-mile Iron Horse Trail, which runs from Concord to Dublin. Following the old Southern Pacific railroad right of way, the Iron Horse Trail provides a major artery running through the San Ramon Valley.
The trail is not just for recreation. An estimated 20 percent of the Iron Horse Trail use is commuter traffic. People riding to work or walking to school stroll side by side with those seeking physical fitness with their daily jog.
One million people use the trail annually, according to statistics provided by the East Bay Regional Park District. Public Affairs Director Shelly Lewis said that figure does not reflect the number of people on the trail each year.
“When we say users, we’re talking about someone who is on the trail. It could be the same person who runs or bikes on the trail every day,” Lewis said. Additionally, Lewis said that number is from a 1997 trail survey and most likely does not reflect the level of use it sees now.
With all of that traffic, some issues are bound to crop up. Danville resident Caroll Sandifor, a frequent user of the trail, said she sees things that concern her.
“For one thing, I think it needs to be kept up better. It’s really hard for skaters and rollerbladers with all the cracks and potholes,” she said. “I won’t go out and walk when it is dusk outside because it gets to be too hard to see those things.”
Another concern is one of the trail’s most frequent users–dogs. Every day, people will walk, ride or jog with their pets along the trail. Although signs are posted regarding leashes, it seems that many regard it as an option. Sandifor said many times she has seen people let their pets off leash to run free along the trailway. Others use the extendible leashes so their pets run across the trail and create a barrier with the leash.
“I was walking with a woman who is afraid of dogs and a person came along the trail with their dog off the leash,” Sandifor said. “We talked to the man and he put the dog back on the leash. As we watched him, he went further up the trail, then took the dog off again.” Add to that the amount of dog waste left on and beside the trail and it can be quite a chore navigating the pavement, she noted.
Besides the fauna, the flora can present challenges for those who bike or push strollers along the Iron Horse Trail. Tara Parsons, another resident who uses the trail, said a problem she has seen is puncture vines. Tara Parsons and her husband Brad have spent many hours on the trail running and pushing a jogging stroller.
“There was a section that had a lot of (puncture vines) growing along the side,” said Tara Parsons. “There’s nothing worse than being away from home with two kids and having your jogging stroller’s wheels go flat due to the thorns.”
Puncture vines, also known as Goathead or Caltrops, grow close to the trail and spawn small marble-like seeds with razor sharp thorns. When the seed dries and splits, it cracks open, revealing a second thorn, much like a set of horns. Bicycle repair shop personnel in the area say it’s a bull market on self sealing “slime” tires, due to the abundance of puncture vines along the trail.
Park District officials say these issues are valid, but they are ones that occur naturally and are dealt with as efficiently as possible.
“In the Contra Costa Regional Trail system we have about 96 miles of trail we have to maintain,” said Al Olivera, Regional Trails Unit Manager for the Park District. Some of the work on the trails is done on a complaint basis, but the district also proactively patrols the miles of trails looking for problem areas.
Olivera said they patch potholes and cracks in the asphalt as quickly as they can once they are aware of them but the sheer volume of traffic on the trails, coupled with the climate and the soil conditions, means there will always be some shifting in the road surface, which will result in imperfections.
“Because it’s all foot traffic we don’t see a lot of heavy weight on the trail. We mostly see longitudinal cracking,” Olivera said. “When you have a soil with a high percentage of clay it’s going to swell when it rains and then dry up and crack.”
As for the overall condition of the trail surface and the effect on skaters and rollerblading, he said, “These are hiking trails. They’re not rollerblading trails. We maintain them at a certain level. It’s not brand new, flawless asphalt.”
But, he stated, that doesn’t mean they don’t strive to keep the surface conducive for rollerblades as well as biking. “We try to exceed our standards, but there’s only so much we can do,” he said. “A seven- or eight-person staff can only do so much.”
Part of the routine maintenance is the clearing of brush from the side of the asphalt, as well as trimming to keep the grass from growing too tall.
“Puncture vines are very difficult to spot sometimes, especially if you only have a small plant growing,” Olivera noted. “It’s much easier to spot a large section of it.” Nonetheless he said his crew members are aware of what a nuisance the plant can be so they work very hard to keep it away from the general thoroughfare.
Olivera said there is work being done on the trails year round. Some is done by his crews but larger operations such as repaving are contracted out. Annually, the Park District spends an average of $25,000 per mile to keep up the trail. Construction of a new trail costs around $150,000 per mile and repaving can run upwards of $250,000.
“Our trails are designed to have a 25-year lifespan,” said Olivera. “With patching and maintenance there’s no reason why they shouldn’t last that long.” The trails have been built in stages beginning in 1986.
While maintenance may help with the cleanup of dog waste, Olivera said it is really the responsibility of the district’s police agency to enforce leash laws.
Beverly Lane, a board member of the Park District, agrees with Olivera. “Other than having the rules posted, we do have some people who go up and down the trails,” she said. “We have police and we have the Volunteer Safety Patrol. They educate trail users on what’s appropriate to do within the rules. One of the safety groups walks with dogs, so if they see someone who is letting their dog off the leash or on a very long leash where it creates a barrier, they have an ‘education talk’ with them.”
Lane said those talks will very often center on cleaning up after the pet and keeping them under control.
One of the issues of an extended trail system like Iron Horse is that there are many sections of the trail that are somewhat isolated. Both Sandifor and Tara Parsons have expressed concerns about what could happen.
“There are areas of the trail that I wouldn’t want to be alone,” Parsons said. One example she gave was the underpass for the freeway. “Places like that are away from the businesses and homes. If you were to be injured or if something happened, there is no one around to help.”
Sandifor said a woman told her she was running on the trail when a man exposed himself to her. Sandifor added, “I see kids walking by themselves down the trail in the early morning. These are things we need to be concerned about.” Sandifor said Danville isn’t the “inner city” but crime does occur here and the best way to avoid an incident is to be cautious.
“It’s only safe as long as we take care,” she said. “You always hear those stories about ‘I can’t believe it happened here.’ Things can happen anywhere.”
Park District officials say they are doing what they can to patrol the entire trail system. There is a police force, which is responsible for the parks and trails, as well as the volunteer system.
Ned Mackay, who serves as a volunteer, said that for the past three years, he has been spending a minimum of nine hours per week walking the trails with a two-way radio. He assists residents who find themselves in distress and contacts the main police unit if he finds something amiss.
“The Volunteer Safety Patrol is broken up into four groups,” Mackay explained. “You have a mounted component, which is the oldest of the patrol. You have a biking component and a hiking one. In the hiking group there is a sub-group of companion walking. They are the ones who walk the trails with their dogs and help keep people informed about what the rules regarding pets are.”
The Volunteer Safety Patrol has around 170 members and each one agrees to spend nine hours per week in the park and attend at least 10 monthly training sessions per year. Mackay said he hasn’t seen much crime in the last three years, but there are things users of the trail system should know.
“One of the things we’ve been told to keep an eye out for is auto burglaries at the staging areas,” Mackay said. “That is a problem at those areas. We’ve been alerted to it and told that if we see someone who is loitering around the cars, possibly casing them, we should contact the police dispatcher on our radio.” Mackay said last summer some members of the safety patrol spotted individuals around the cars, which led to auto burglary arrests.
“Other than that, I’ve only seen minor medical emergencies,” he added. “I’ve never seen or heard of anyone being approached or assaulted on the trail.” Mackay said there have been some incidents where kids were riding motorized scooters on the trail, but they stopped once they were approached by patrol members or police officers.
Danville police Sgt. Ron Bradley said other than one car/bicyclist accident at the intersection of Harlan and the trail in November 2005, he hasn’t heard of any serious incidents surrounding the trail. Iron Horse crosses a number of streets in Danville and the Police Department handles calls that occur within its jurisdiction.
Bradley said that when crossing streets that intersect the trail, a user’s best bet is to ride or walk defensively.
“You should never assume you have the right of way,” he said. “I run on the trail and I bike on the trail. If I’m running and I assume the car is going to stop and I get hit, my assuming isn’t going to do me a lot of good.”
Bradley said the calls they generally receive have to do with assisting motorists. “We’ll get a call from someone who’s broken down and they use the trail as a reference point,” he said.
Bradley said the police log from last year showed they received a few calls of loitering around the trail crossings, one for public drunkenness at a crossing, and they have made one drug arrest.
As far as personal safety on the trail goes, Bradley said users should try to remain aware of their surroundings in order to be as safe as possible.
Tara Parsons agreed. “You don’t want to be running with your headphones blasting. You should keep one ear uncovered so you can hear if someone is coming up behind you.”
Anyone who sees something that looks suspicious or has concerns should look for a member of the Park District police force or a Volunteer Safety Patroller. If they are not available, Ned Mackay said there are other ways of getting the information to Park District officials.
“What people can do if they encounter any criminal activity is fill out a park watch report,” he said. “Either online at the Park District Web site or you can find these forms in the information panels at trailheads. You can write out a description of what happened and a description of the suspect.”
Park Director Lane also pointed to the high numbers of pedestrians and riders as a means of maintaining safety.
“The trail gets a lot of use, so there are people on it all the time,” she said. “I think that helps to keep people safe.”
