December 10, 2021 — Trails and railroads have been top of mind lately. Last month, the Skunk Train made a controversial move to purchase the Georgia Pacific mill site in Fort Bragg. And the master planning process for the Great Redwood Trail is poised to get going in the new year — under the shadow of the Coal Train, which could stall progress on the trail’s federal application indefinitely.
In the meantime, some cities along the former railroad are quietly building segments of trail adjacent to the tracks that run through town, adding benches and plants, turning the old easements into parks.
The City of Ukiah has built three segments of the trail, from its northern boundary to Commerce Drive, just south of the airport. Earlier this year, the city got a three and a half million dollar grant from the California Natural Resources Agency’s Urban Greening program to build another two miles south, to Taylor Lane.
Andrew Stricklin, the Associate Engineer with the city’s Public Works Department, spoke Thursday morning about the next phase of the trail.