Sonoma’s Existing Greenlinks Network

By Larry Barnett 

My wife and I recently downsized and moved from Fifth Street East to Fifth Street West, from the east side to the west side. Now I have an entirely new neighborhood to walk and explore, and find myself just a block away from the Fryer Creek Trail. 

Unlike the bike trail to the north that runs from east to west, the Fryer Creek Trail runs north to south, from West MacArthur Street to Leveroni Road. My good fortune includes a tree-studded path at the end of my street that leads to Fryer Creek. I now can walk on a shady class-one bike path devoid of motor vehicles where the sounds of birds and gurgling water are what I hear instead of the hiss of tires on asphalt and the roar of internal combustion engines. It’s an example of Sonoma’s existing Greenlinks Network, a way to walk through town that’s not only safe, but beautiful and relaxing. 

When General Vallejo designed the City of Sonoma with its street grid system defining blocks and transportation routes, the automobile wasn’t how people got around, it was by walking and using horses. The pace of life was slower and The City of Sonoma was a rural, agricultural community. What has become Sonoma’s bustling Plaza was a corral for livestock, bordered by the Mission, hotels, shops, restaurants, and a post office. Unfortunately, Vallejo did not foresee or plan for our car-dominated future nor did he create a network of paths separated from the streets.

It was the conversion of an old, abandoned railroad right-of-way that provided the opportunity to create the bike trail to the north. Fryer Creek Trail came much later, largely through the devoted efforts of Virginia “Ginny” Jones, whose property on Harrington Drive backed up to the creek. Other trail segments exist around town, but do not connect with each other. This presents both a problem and an opportunity.

The Sonoma City Council recently endorsed the Greenlinks approach, incorporating the creation of safe, alternative pathways into development planning. The first step is identifying and mapping all the existing Greenlinks pathways. Once that is completed, plans can begin to be made to create the links that connect them. Doing that may involve acquiring easements, purchasing property, and requiring developers to incorporate linking pathways into their projects. The first step has been taken, but this is a long-term effort that will take a generation and a dedicated effort. 

Fifth Street West is much busier than Fifth Street East. The sound of traffic is at times like the background noise at the shore of the ocean, a continuous rush of waves of movement. And yet just a few blocks away true serenity can be found beside a meandering creek. Everyone should be so lucky.