SANTA ROSA SOUTHEAST GREENWAY

Santa Rosa’s Own Central Park

Sonoma Land Trust is partnering with the City of Santa Rosa to purchase the Southeast Greenway from Caltrans to transform what is now a two-mile abandoned freeway right-of-way into a new, 47-acre urban greenway park and open space amenity for the largest city in Sonoma County.

This long neglected and vacant property would become the City’s own “Central Park,” threaded with paths for cyclists and pedestrians and populated with community gardens, pocket parks, art displays and new opportunities for outdoor play and education for nearby, underserved schools. The Greenway vision began in 2009 when community members recognized that this vacant property along the Highway 12 corridor could, one day, be transformed into a world-class urban parkway for Santa Rosa. This group formed the Santa Rosa Southeast Greenway Campaign and the project is now led by a strategic coalition of agency and nonprofit partners, including the City of Santa Rosa, Sonoma Land Trust, Sonoma Water, Sonoma County Regional Parks and LandPaths.

Our Opportunity

The Greenway will offer many environmental and social benefits, providing thousands of city residents with access to a park within a 10-minute walk from their homes. It will connect Santa Rosa’s beloved three-park complex (Spring Lake Regional Park, Howarth City Park and Trione-Annadel State Park) and the Sonoma Valley Trail to nearby diverse, high-density urban communities for the first time, and also provide safe, car-free access to other adjourning pedestrian thoroughfares. The latter include the SMART rail line in downtown Santa Rosa, the Prince Memorial Greenway and West County trails, as well as easy access to nearby schools, workplaces and major shopping centers. In addition, the Greenway will provide a unique opportunity to restore part of Santa Rosa’s natural world by restoring creeks and wildlife habitat. The City has also zoned two portions of the property as suitable for much-needed housing development, which will help alleviate the acute shortage of affordable homes in Sonoma County.

Project documents for the Greenway, including the proposal as adopted through the City of Santa Rosa’s General Plan Amendment, can be viewed here.

Additional Resources

To learn more about the Santa Rosa Southeast Greenway or for ways to get involved, visit the Santa Rosa Southeast Greenway Campaign website at www.southeastgreenway.org.