Rohnert Park council approves grant-backed Crane Creek trail; Sonoma County Regional Parks to maintain donated acreage

Rohnert Park’s City Council voted April 8 to approve construction of the Trail to Crane Creek Regional Park, a long-planned multi-use connector that will link city-owned lands to Crane Creek Regional Park using an accessible trail alignment and a 90-foot bridge across Copeland Creek.

Staff described the project scope and funding: the trail concept runs through a 128-acre city parcel, connects to an existing water-tank access road (the Darren Jenkins tank), and ties into a planned pedestrian signal at Petaluma Hill Road and State Route 116. Funding includes roughly $1.36 million from an Ag + Open Space grant, about $728,000 committed by Sonoma County Regional Parks, and local bike-ped funding (Measure M/TDA Article 3) and infrastructure funds; council approved a staff-proposed transfer of $700,000 from a future creek pathway project to bridge a funding gap.

Vanessa, the project presenter, said the county will accept a dedication of roughly 75 acres and place a conservation easement on that parcel; Sonoma County Regional Parks will take responsibility for long-term maintenance. "Regional parks has been with us through this whole thing — they are great at maintaining trails," she said.

Council discussion focused on pedestrian safety at the proposed Petaluma Hill Road crossing, structural and erosion controls for the Copeland Creek bridge (a silt fence will be used during construction to meet fish-and-wildlife requirements), and native-plant palettes with a request to emphasize monarch-supporting milkweed near riparian areas. Members stressed ensuring the traffic-signal work and pedestrian crossing design receive careful engineering review before implementation.

Public comment included a long-time project advocate who urged unanimous support and staff follow-up on prior project delays. After deliberation, the council approved the contract and the budget amendment; the city recorded the vote with the usual recusals noted for council members with conflicts on unrelated items.

What’s next: construction procurement and a separate contract for the signalized crossing will return to council for approval; staff and county partners will finalize the conservation-easement language and a trail-maintenance agreement with Sonoma County Regional Parks.