The Iron Horse trail in Danville is poised to get a makeover.
From Aug. 15 to Aug. 29 the Iron Horse trail will be closed, said Kim Fisher, a landscape architect with the East Bay Regional Park District, which manages the popular trail.
The park district plans to shut down the trail from Del Amigo Road to West Prospect Avenue and the portion from Laurel Drive to Sycamore Valley Road. The park district has flagged both of these portions of the trail as safety hazards. There are noticeable cracks along the trail – some run several feet deep – that can cause trail users to trip, said Fisher.
The cracks are caused by the clay soil that is common in Contra Costa County. The clay soil is extremely porous and in times of heavy rain it absorbs the water. When the water dries out, the clay soil pulls apart and causes the cracks in the trail, said Fisher. In the past, the park district has just put a layer of asphalt over the existing layer.
“That will work for a period of time. They seal the cracks and they pave over it,” said Fisher. “That surface will last until the cracks from the subsurface reflect up to the top surface.” Trail repair this time will be more drastic.
In 2002 the park district repaired the portion of the trail between Laurel Drive and Sycamore Valley. The clay soil there is particularly destructive to the trail, said Fisher. The park district used a cement treatment but the cracks have persisted. For these newest repairs, the park district has obtained advice from an engineer, who took soil samples and recommended certain pavement sections, said Fisher.
The park district plans to use an environmentally sound technique called “recycling in place.” Basically, this will involve pulverizing the existing trail and pulling the material out to the side.
The park district will then treat the sub-grade, the material that is below the surface, and the sub-base, with lime. The lime minimizes the amount of expansion and contraction of the clay soil. The park district will create grindings by combining the existing asphalt and the base rock to create a cushion between the sub-grade and the sub-base. By treating the sub-base with lime and creating a larger cushion, the trail should be sound for another 20 years instead of 10.
“We’re using the materials we have to create a section that will last longer. Then we don’t have to haul the asphalt and the base rock,” said Fisher. The park district, while not suggesting detour routes for users, will be placing signs at the points of closure before and during construction.
The park district believes that late August is the best time for such a project. In terms of pulverizing the trail, it’s best to do it during the driest time of the year, said Fisher.
Also, the park district contacted San Ramon Valley High School, whose students heavily use the trail, to see when school starts. Construction on the trail will end right before school resumes Aug. 29. The park district also hopes to minimize impact to trail users by coordinating with a project Danville is planning.
The town has just approved going out to bid to install an automatic pedestrian-activated lighted crosswalk where Del Amigo Road and the Iron Horse Trail meet.
“It’s a busy crossing,” said Nazanin Shakarin, traffic engineer for the town. “There are a few busy Iron Horse Trail crossings and this is one of them.”
Right now a crosswalk exists where Del Amigo Road and the trail meet, but the town has decided that a lighted crosswalk that warns drivers of a pedestrian passing is the best setup. In addition to the town flagging the spot as hazardous, residents of Del Amigo Road have been concerned for years over the safety of the crossing, said Shakarin. Residents complain of drivers not yielding to pedestrians, and trail users not properly stopping at the crosswalk.
“As a trail user, you’re supposed to stop and look both ways. Some people were not doing that. Drivers were not being conscious of it and they were crossing over the trail,” said Shakarin.
While residents have told of close call accidents between trail users and drivers, no accidents have been officially reported, said Shakarin.
The town has done both traffic counts and speed surveys at Del Amigo. The town estimates that Del Amigo Road carries approximately 4,500 vehicles per day and that over 1,000 pedestrians typically use the Del Amigo crossing every day.
The lighted crosswalk will be similar to the ones already in place at La Gonda Way in front of St. Isidore Catholic Church and at the Iron Horse Trail crossing at Paraiso Drive. The crosswalk will flash automatically whenever a trail user passes through, enhancing their visibility to oncoming drivers, said Shakarin.
The bid will go out July 21, and the Town Council will award the bid. The amount of $40,500 has been appropriated in the Capital Improvement Program toward the new lighted crosswalk, according to the staff report. Shakarin anticipates the lights will be installed at Del Amigo beginning sometime in mid-September.
The park district and the town discussed coordinating the two projects to minimize impact to trail users and drivers, and decided the park district project should take place first. That way the park district will not have to be concerned about disturbing any of the new electrical work the town will install for the crosswalk.
The trail will not be closed when the crosswalk is constructed. Shakerin expected some sort of traffic control at the crosswalk, like a flagman directing traffic. The town will make sure that at least one lane of traffic will remain open.
