City aims to put brakes on cars illegally driving on popular Sacramento bike trail
SACRAMENTO — Cars have been caught on camera taking over a bike trail in a Sacramento neighborhood. It's a story we first told you about two weeks ago, and now the mayor and city council are taking steps to stop the illegal activity.
It's happening along the Sacramento Northern Bike Trail. Residents say the trail should be a peaceful place to take a walk or ride a bicycle through the north Sacramento and Del Paso Heights communities.
However, as we first reported earlier this month, cars are driving down the path and putting trail users at risk.
"We don't want to see some kid walking to school get run over because somebody's riding on the bike trail when they're not supposed to be," said north Sacramento homeowner Nancy Azevedo.
Azevedo lives across from the trail and has taken her concerns to city hall to ask for more enforcement and help to make improvements, like clearing weeds and installing fences and bollards to keep cars out.
"It's a safety issue that we really, really want to hit hard on with the city to help us out and get things resolved out here," she said.
It now appears that city leaders are listening. Mayor Darrell Steinberg is asking for a $250,000 in the upcoming budget to help maintain and improve safety along the 61-acre northern trail parkway that runs from the American River to Rio Linda.
How is Sacramento trying to improve safety along trails?
Mayor Steinberg is making the request even though the city is facing a $66 million budget deficit. The extra funding will go toward new safety barriers, along with tree planting and clearing overgrowth in the undeveloped areas of the trail.
Mayor Steinberg said it is an effort to "clean it up in a right way."
Restoring and adding bike trails has been a priority for the city, which just completed the new $23 million Del Rio Trail in south Sacramento. Both trails are located along former railroad tracks that are no longer used.
"We want a robust bike trail as well so that members of the public can ride from north Sacramento all the way to south Sacramento and not see blight or anything," said Shoun Thao, city councilmember for District 2.
Azevedo and her neighbors hope the new money will put the brakes on any more vehicles using the bike trail as an expressway.
"We're fighting to hopefully get this all resolved," she said.
The city council voted last week to add the funding request to its final budget, which is scheduled to be approved on June 11.