The Sacramento River Parkway

[Jim Baross]

Some of you who know of the situation may have already acted. Good.

Here's info, reasons, and guidance for personal actions for those who care but haven't been "outspoken" yet. 

(The San Diego River path undercrossings had to be modified (successfully!) with fencing to discourage inappropriate uses—trash, feces, trail blocking, dark and blind-corner surprises, etc. I hope that Sacramento folks have planned for this.) 

Jim Baross

CABO President

----- Forwarded Message -----

From: "Debra Banks" <saba-sac...@shared1.ccsend.com>

Cc:

Sent: Sun, Oct 12, 2025 at 12:00 AM

Subject: ACTION ALERT: The Sacramento River Parkway

Let's get this trail open

ACTION ALERT:  Sacramento River Parkway Urge council to approve the preliminary project design and accept the EIR addendum This Tuesday afternoon at 2:00 PM, city council will hopefully approve the preliminary design of the Pocket portion of the Sacramento River Parkway project and adopt the addendum of the Environmental Impact Report (EIR). This section is the east levee of the Sacramento River between Garcia Bend Park and Zacharias Park, in CM Jennings district 7. We need your help. There are residents who live adjacent to the levee who do not want the project to move forward. We need to come out in force and let city council know how important this is for all of Sacramento. Why are trails like the Sac River Parkway important? Because they: Improve safety for all users. Consider the Sacramento River Parkway like a "linear park" that provides a completely protected bike and walkway that minimizes crossflows by motorists and pedestrians. This enhances safety for all users, creating a safe parallel transportation option. Trails like this move us towards our Vision Zero goals.  Improve our health. Walking and cycling help people maintain a healthy body weight, can increase metabolism and bone strength (especially walking), while lowering cholesteral. Exercise can help prevent heart issues such as stroke, heart attack, and high blood pressure. Recent research suggests regular cycling can lower mortality rates for people with diabetes. Mental health gets a boost from walking and cycling too and people think more clearly when participating in these activities.  Improve our air quality and climate goals. Sac's climate plan has stated goals to increase active transportation mode share to 6% by 2030 and 12% by 2045. We are currently just below 3%. Typical emissions from an average car hover around a staggering 404 grams of CO2 per mile. Regular cycling can save close to 700 kg of CO2 per year, akin to planting 15 trees. Walking and cycling move us closer to meeting our climate goals. Create a comfortable connected active transportation network. SABA's decade long vision is to have a comfortable, connected, bicycle and trail network, which has benefits for every community member in Sacramento. The Sac River Parkway has connections to larger projects like the Great Delta Trail and the larger vision of a continuous trail network from Lake Tahoe to San Francisco.  In the end, this project is much more than just a few miles of paved trail along the Sacramento River, but is about if the city prioritizes the health and safety of its residents, and how everyone can flourish and experience what makes Sacramento special. But you all know this, right? Let's make sure that council knows too. Urge council to approve the EIR addendum and move into design and construction of the Sacramento River Parkway so that all Sacramentans can enjoy a connected trail system along the river for generations to come. Here's how: Join us in council chambers at 2:00 PM and sign a speaker slip for item number 17 on the Discussion Calendar.   Write a short paragraph (borrow from above if you like) about why we need this section of the Sacramento River Parkway to move forward. Stay away from talking about dropping the gates that obstruct passage at this time. That battle will come - save it for then.  Practice what you'll say - 2 minutes go fast! Also, drop those same comments as an e-comment. Here's how: Follow this link to the e-comment page for Tuesday's council meeting.  Write your comments and submit.  Extra credit if you also send your comments directly to your councilmember, the Mayor and to CM Jennings (this is in his district). Find their emails here. Finally, TELL YOUR FRIENDS and NEIGHBORS who enjoy walking and cycling along the river to voice their support too. We need a lot of support for this to overcome opposition by landowners who are afraid that "ne'er-do-well" people will come into their property because they reside by the river. Let's tell council how important our trail system is and to take the steps to complete the Sacramento River Parkway. Have questions? Get in touch. Thank you for taking action that will make Sacramento a better place to live for everyone. Please support our capacity to do this important work by becoming a member. SABA is a 501(c)(3) nonprofit corporation. Your donation is a tax-deductible charitable gift. 

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