Mendocino County Rail-with-Trail Corridor Plan MAY 2012 PREPARED BY: Alta Planning + Design WITH: GHD (Formerly Winzler & Kelly) Redwood Community Action Agency PREPARED FOR: Mendocino Council of Governments The preparation of this report was programmed through the Mendocino Council of Governments’ FY 2010/11 Transportation Planning Work Program and funded with State (Community Based Transportation Planning Grant) and Local (Planning Programming & Monitoring) funds. TABLE OF CONTENTS ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS .............................................................................................................................................................. i Executive Summary .................................................................................................................................................................... i 1. Introduction ......................................................................................................................................................... 1-1 1.1 Overview ........................................................................................................................................................................................................ 1-1 1.2 Project Purpose and Approach .............................................................................................................................................................. 1-1 2. Background ......................................................................................................................................................... 2-1 2.1 Overview of Corridor and History ......................................................................................................................................................... 2-1 2.2 Goals for the Project ................................................................................................................................................................................... 2-4 2.3 Vision for a Rail-with-Trail Corridor in Mendocino County .......................................................................................................... 2-4 2.4 Summary of Relevant Plans and Policies ............................................................................................................................................ 2-5 2.5 Summary of Key Partner Agencies ..................................................................................................................................................... 2-11 2.6 General Corridor Conditions ................................................................................................................................................................. 2-12 3. Needs Assessment ............................................................................................................................................... 3-1 3.1 Potential User Groups ............................................................................................................................................................................... 3-1 3.2 Summary of Workshop Comments and Survey Results ............................................................................................................... 3-3 3.3 Connecting Facilities.................................................................................................................................................................................. 3-4 3.4 Demand and Benefits ................................................................................................................................................................................ 3-8 4. Corridor Overview ............................................................................................................................................... 4-1 4.1 Corridor Trail Segments Detail ............................................................................................................................................................... 4-5 5. Phase I Priority Projects ...................................................................................................................................... 5-1 6. Corridor Design Parameters ............................................................................................................................... 6-1 6.1 Summary of NCRA Compliance ............................................................................................................................................................. 6-1 6.2 Recommended RWT Design Standards .............................................................................................................................................. 6-1 6.3 Key RWT Design Elements ..................................................................................................................................................................... 6-18 7. Implementation ................................................................................................................................................... 7-1 7.1 Recommended Trail Phasing .................................................................................................................................................................. 7-1 7.2 Cost Estimates .............................................................................................................................................................................................. 7-3 7.3 Operations and Maintenance ................................................................................................................................................................. 7-6 7.4 Funding Opportunities ........................................................................................................................................................................... 7-13 7.5 Risk Management ..................................................................................................................................................................................... 7-17 TABLE OF FIGURES Figure 2-1: Rail-With-Trail Corridor Plan Area (Northwestern Pacific Railroad Corridor) .......................................................................... 2-3 Figure 2-2: Rail-With-Trail Corridor Plan Area South, Central, and North Sections ................................................................................... 2-14 Figure 3-1: Existing and Proposed Figure Bikeways in the City of Ukiah ....................................................................................................... 3-5 Figure 3-2: Existing and Proposed Bikeways in the County of Mendocino .................................................................................................... 3-6 Figure 3-3: Existing and Proposed Bikeways in the City of Willits ..................................................................................................................... 3-7 Figure 4-1: Rail-with-Trail Corridor: Southern Region ............................................................................................................................................ 4-2 Figure 4-2: Rail-with-Trail Corridor: Central Region ................................................................................................................................................ 4-3 Figure 4-3: Rail-with-Trail Corridor: Northern Region ............................................................................................................................................ 4-4 Figure 5-1: Priority Project Corridor Context ............................................................................................................................................................. 5-1 Figure 5-2: Priority Project 1 - Ukiah Detail ................................................................................................................................................................ 5-4 Figure 5-3: Priority Project 2 – County of Mendocino Detail ............................................................................................................................... 5-7 Figure 5-4: Priority Project 3 – Willits Detail ............................................................................................................................................................. 5-10 TABLE OF TABLES Table 4-1: Trail Information Summary by Segment – Central Region ............................................................................................................ 4-21 Table 4-2: Trail Information Summary by Segment – Central Region ............................................................................................................ 4-22 Table 4-3: Trail Information Summary by Segment – Northern Region ........................................................................................................ 4-23 Table 5-1: Rail-with-Trail Planning Level Cost Estimate: Ukiah Segment S10 ............................................................................................... 5-5 Table 5-2: Rail-with-Trail Planning Level Cost Estimate: County of Mendocino Segment C1 ................................................................. 5-8 Table 5-3: Rail-with-Trail Planning Level Cost Estimate: City of Willits Segment C7 ................................................................................. 5-11 Table 7-1: Phase I Rail-with-Trail Segments