Prop 68 Statewide Park Program $8.5 Million Grant
If you have not heard the news, WE WON! The City of Escondido has been awarded $8.5 million from the California Parks Department to fund the Escondido Creek Trail Expansion and Renovation Project. These funds, made available through the Prop 68 Statewide Park Development and Community Revitalization Program, will bring to life the community’s vision for revitalizing the Escondido Creek Trail and turning it into a premier linear park.
In August 2019, the State Parks Department received 478 project applications requesting $2.3 billion. The amount requested greatly exceeded the $254.9 million available in this funding cycle, highlighting the statewide need and underscoring how competitive this grant was. Of the 478 project applications, only 62 projects were awarded, for a total of $254,942,000 in grants statewide. The Escondido Creek Trail was one of only nine projects funded at the maximum $8.5 million level and only one of three projects funded in San Diego County.
Project Goals`
- Increase access to parkland and expand park spaces
- Provide recreational and active transportation opportunities to bring as much positive activity to the area as possible
- Provide consistency in the look and branding of creek corridor
- Engage the community - there are so many opportunities for partnerships with local businesses, artists, volunteers, schools, health care and environmental organizations, and so much more!
Grant Project Scope:
The Escondido Creek Trail Expansion and Renovation project would improve approximately 4.5 miles of the existing Escondido Creek Trail (between Harmony Grove Road and Midway Drive) and add approximately 0.4 miles of new bicycle path (between Harmony Grove Road and the Citracado Parkway extension) to the linear park. This project will aim to create a double-sided trail on approximately 1.7 miles; on one side will be the existing Class I bicycle path, on the other will be a new DG trail.
Opening the closed side of the Creek Trail, removing asphalt and building a firm surface path, and adding recreation features will add over a mile of new trail and 2.5 acres of parkland, in the heart of Escondido’s severely/disadvantaged community area. Expanding into this space will separate users in a way that will enhance the use for both. Bicycles and skateboarders will be able to travel at their desired rate of speed without worrying about small children wandering in the path. Pedestrians and joggers will have a path that is better designed for their physical needs and will have amenities such as adult fitness equipment, children’s play pockets and pocket gardens.
Improvements between Citracado Parkway Extension and Harmony Grove Road (minor improvement area), include:
- Connecting the existing trail at Harmony Grove Road to Citracado Parkway
- Improvements to existing paved path (new surface coat, lane striping)
- Trash/recycling receptacles and signage
Improvements between Harmony Grove Road and Centre City Parkway (minor improvement area), include:
- New fencing near the NCTD Transit Center
- Improvements to existing paved path (new surface coat, lane striping)
- Trash/recycling receptacles and signage
Improvements between Broadway and Rose Street (primary improvement area) include:
- New fencing
- Trail signage
- 10 foot wide DG path on the north side of the channel between Date Street and Rose Street
- Trash/recycling receptacles, dog waste bag stations, water filling stations, benches, shade structures, and activity stations (fitness and adventure play)
- New landscaping and irrigated native and CA-friendly trees and shrubs
- Pollinator garden
- Future community garden site
- Extend existing trail lighting
- Murals, decorative paving, and artistic fencing
Improvements between Rose Street and Midway Drive (secondary improvement area), include:
- New fencing
- 10 foot wide DG path on the north side of the channel from Rose Street to Midway
- Trail monument and signage
- Trash/recycling receptacles, dog waste bag stations, water filling station
- New landscaping and irrigated native and CA-friendly trees and shrubs
- Trail lighting
Proposed Improvements
Proposed decomposed granite natural surface trail with seating, lighting, fencing, drought tolerant planting, exercise stations, and bottle fillers.
Proposed creek corridor improvements adding natural surface trail on north side of the creek and renovations to the existing paved trail to the south.
Renovated existing multi-use path with enhanced fencing, drought tolerant planting, bottle fillers, lighting, and seating.
Artistic fencing opportunities for wayfinding and branding.
Pollinator garden near Date Street Bridge.
Artistic mural opportunities working with local businesses along the corridor.
Creek Trail Plant List:
Escondido Creek Trail Street Crossing Improvements Project
This project is funded through the $1,632,000 Active Transportation Grant that the City received in November 2018 and focuses on 2.5 miles of the Escondido Creek Trail between Juniper Street and Citrus Avenue. In the Escondido Creek Trail Master Plan (2012), pedestrian crosswalks were planned for these locations. Since the acceptance of the Creek Trail Master Plan, the City has adopted a Traffic Management Toolbox as well as a revised City of Escondido Crosswalk Policy (Traffic Policy #4). These new standards allow for innovative traffic calming and traffic safety measures in addition to those discussed in the Master Plan, including pedestrian activated rapid flashing beacons, high visibility crosswalks, pedestrian refuges, and pedestrian signals.
At each of the seven (7) locations where the Creek Trail intersects a roadway, the project will provide appropriate pedestrian crosswalk treatments, including pedestrian signals, lighting, signage, striping, and pedestrian ramps as necessary. The project will result in a fully connected trail extending through Escondido’s urban core from the Transit Center to the eastern City limits nearly five (5) miles away.
Over the last decade, there has been a significant effort put into the ECT. You may have been involved in this process throughout the years or just joining the journey. The timeline below shows how much the City and the Community are invested in this effort and we are not reinventing the wheel here as we implement the trail improvements. We are taking the great work and vision that has already been tested over and over with the community and making those ideas a reality now that we have a significant sum of money to devote to this purpose.
Starting in early 2010, residents brought forward a vision of the Escondido Creek as a linear park. The City engaged with the community to gather feedback which resulted in the following important planning documents: Revealing Escondido Creek vision plan and the Escondido Creek Trail Master Plan. Two top priorities that emerged were to complete the Missing Link bike path between Broadway and Centre City Parkway and to create safe mid-block crossings along the length of the Creek Trail. As funding has become available, these improvements have been prioritized. The Missing Link bike path was completed in 2019 and work on the mid-block crossings is underway as the result of receiving an Active Transportation Project Grant.
Missing Link
In early 2019, the Missing Link project was completed, installing a Class IV Cycle Track, and filling the gap in the Escondido Creek Trail between the Escondido Transit Center and Broadway. Learn more about this project here.