Community Improvement Projects In Progress

1. Crocker Road Pedestrian & Bicyle Bridge
The Sonoma County Department of Public Infrastructure is proceeding with this significant development that when completed will greatly enhance safety for cyclists, pedestrians, and recreational enthusiasts.
This state-of-the-art bridge represents a pivotal milestone in the county’s commitment to promoting active transportation and creating a safer community for all. This new pedestrian bridge offers a range of benefits that will positively impact the lives of residents and visitors. The key advantage of this project are:
a. Increased Safety – The pedestrian bridge and bicycle provides a dedicated pathway, completely separated from vehicular traffic, ensuring the safety of pedestrians and cyclists. This eliminates the risk of accidents and encourages more people to utilize active modes of transportation.
b. Recreation and Leisure – The new bridge not only benefits commuters but also caters to the recreational needs of residents. It provides access to scenic routes and trail networks.

2. Cloverdale River Park Expansion
The vision is to expand the Cloverdale River Park to include the heavily used area surrounding the Crocker Road Bridge to provide accessible safe recreation, reduce fire and trespass and other impacts on neighbors, and to improve water quality and habitat.

Project Elements:
a. Connected, safe trails – Sonoma County Public Infrastructure is leading the Crocker Bike & Pedestrian bridge to provide a safe crossing to both sides of the river.
b. Safe Parking – designated parking with accessible parking at the east side of the bridge
c. Access Trails – sustainable and accessible routes
d. Restrooms – permanent accessible restrooms to improve water quality and use experience
e. Trash & Dumping – trash and recycling receptacles and service; barriers to prevent dumping; debris removal from river; regular clean-ups
f. Signage – regulatory, navigational, educational, and “Leave No Trace” signs will be provided

Project Steps:
a. Acquisition – Negotiations for fee title or public recreational easements with two private landowners are underway
b. Master Planning – Proceed once acquisition is near completion. Master planning will include community engagement, biological/vegetation studies, cultural resource studies, traffic studies and other analysis.
c. Construction – The Crocker Road Pedestrian & Bicycle Bridge is scheduled for Fall 2023. Phase 1 of the park expansion is dependent upon the acquisition.
d. Funding Sources – Parks for All Measure M ($125,000), Park Mitigation Fees – North County Area ($10,000), Sonoma County Regional Parks Foundation ($15,000) and pending 4th District Infrastructure Funding ($100,000). Additional fundraising will be needed for development.

3. Asti Permanent Bridge Update
The Permanent Asti Bridge will provide an additional reliable, year-round ingress/egress, particularly during disaster emergencies. On April 28, 2023, the Board of Supervisors authorized the Department of Public Infrastructure to proceed with Phase 2 of the design work for the Asti Bridge Project. Phase 2 includes preparation of environmental documents for the CEQA analysis and acquisition of right-of-way. With studies on track for completion in the next several months, it is estimated that the effort to create a Special Financing District to support the project will begin at the end of the year.

4. Soda Springs Ranch Open Space Preserve
In partnership with the City of Cloverdale and the Lyda family, Ag + Open Space is in the process of conserving Soda Springs Ranch Open Space preserve, a 209-acre property

directly west of the City of Cloverdale. Ag + Open Space will purchase the ranch and then immediately transfer ownership to the City upon closing. A conservation easement will be held by the City, with a recreational covenant in perpetuity, ensuring that it will be a natural and recreational resource for generations to come.

5. Schellenger Road Communications Tower
In partnership with Northern Sonoma County Community Emergency Response Team (CERT), Northern Sonoma County Fire (Cloverdale & Geyserville), Fireball Information Technologies, a selected group of Sonoma County radio communications leads, North Bay Mesh, Krasisla Pacific Farms, and the Sonoma County Infrastructure, the first grassroots installation of a communications tower is now a realty.
Located east of the City of Cloverdale, the General Mobile Radio Service (GMRS) repeater makes it possible to communicate with the Graton and Geyserville Fire Stations, Fitch Mountain, and areas of Petaluma, Knights Valley, Hopland, and Ukiah during emergencies.

The North Bay Area Mesh (NBAM) is a fail-safe, digital communications network run by licensed amateur radio operators. It is designed expressly to strengthen emergency communications for disaster responders, fire stations, local polices, and volunteer amateur radio operators. The mesh is a regional intranet and does not connect to the internet.

The fire cameras are part of a remote wildfire early detection system and overlook both incorporated and unincorporated Cloverdale, Mendocino County’s southern border, the City of Healdsburg, and the Town of Windsor. The tower, upon completion, will host essential communications infrastructure, cameras, and a weather station.

6. Russian River Parkway
The vision of the Russian River Parkway is to provide safe, clean and unique river access along a heavily used 2 to 3-mile stretch of former Highway 101 between the former Preston Bridge at Cloverdale and the Sonoma-Mendocino County line area. By formalizing high-use, unregulated river access sites, Regional Parks can provide the community with accessible safe recreation, reduce trespass and other impacts on neighbors, and improve water quality and habitat.

Project Elements
a. Safe Parking – designated parking lots with accessible parking; formalize roadside parking on Geysers Road.
b. Access Trails – Steep and erosional trails will be replaced with sustainable and accessible routes
c. Restrooms – permanent accessible restrooms to improve water quality and user experience
d. Trash & Dumping – trash and recycling receptacles and services; barriers to prevent dumping; debris removal from river; regular clean-ups
e. Signage – regulatory, navigational, educational, and “Leave No Trace” signs will be provided
f. Potential Camping – limited, supervised camping is being explored to address high demand in the area.

Project
a. Acquisition of the 19-acre river park was completed
in 2020
b. Master Planning is nearly complete, with preferred alternate, special studies and CEQA document to be published this summer. Input has been provided by neighbors, greater community, the City of Cloverdale, Cloverdale Pomo, user groups, and other stakeholders.
c. Construction of Phase 1 is scheduled to be completed by Fall 2024 and estimated at approximately $900,000-$1,000,000. Debris removal began in 2021.
d. Funding Sources to date are State Resources Agency River Parkways Grant ($1,125,000), Park for All Measure M ($300,000), Park Mitigation Fees – North County Area ($136,000). Total project budget is approximately $1,561,000.

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