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County seeks input on phased Woodlake improvements including bridge, wetland restoration and new boat launch
Summary
Regional Parks briefed the commission on a three‑phase plan for Woodlake that would add a bridge to reconnect trails, expand woodlands and wetlands and build a parking area with a car‑top boat launch and restroom; staff said the projects will require an area‑plan map amendment and CEQA review before Board consideration.
Casey Sorgan, senior planner with Sacramento County Regional Parks, briefed the Recreation and Parks Commission on planned Woodlake area improvements on Feb. 24, 2025, and asked for commission feedback to inform final design work.
Project overview: Sorgan described a three‑phase approach to improvements in the Woodlake area. Phase 1 (the Cal Expo crossing) would construct a bridge across a stormwater channel to reconnect maintenance and trail alignments between Cal Expo and Woodlake and expand approximately 12 acres of woodland and about 2.5 acres of wetland along the channel. The phase would include grading for a planted wetland and realignment of maintenance roads and an equestrian trail; staff said realignment would require an area‑plan map amendment to the American River Parkway plan.
Phase 2 (Woodlake Gateway) would add an entrance road from the end of Northgate Boulevard, a parking lot with ADA spaces, a car‑top boat launch requiring grading to the lower elevation and a restroom adjacent to the parking area. Staff said biotechnical shoreline stabilization measures are preferred over riprap and that riparian plantings would be used as mitigation. Phase 3 is an unfunded proposal to realign the Jedediah Smith Memorial bike trail to remove unsafe 90‑degree turns and reduce erosion near the stormwater channel; it would cross the new Phase 1 bridge.
Environmental and procedural notes: Sorgan said the bridge location was chosen to minimize impacts to identified sensitive resources and that spoils from grading would be redistributed on site to suppress noxious weeds and address tribal concerns about material removal. He said the next steps are completion of CEQA review, an area‑plan map amendment and presentation to the Board of Supervisors. Once the department has final construction plans, staff will return to the commission for a Parkway consistency determination and approval of contract drawings.
Commission response: commissioners generally expressed support for the conservation‑minded restoration approach and for reconnecting trail segments, and asked staff to return with final designs for formal action. One commissioner specifically asked whether maintenance and emergency vehicles would be supported by the proposed alignments; staff said the realigned maintenance roads would provide emergency access, including for fire vehicles.
What’s next: staff will incorporate commissioner feedback in the design phase, complete environmental review and bring the area‑plan map amendment and consistency determination to the Board of Supervisors and, later, back to the commission for construction approval.
