Overview
The proposed San Francisco Bay Trail (Bay Trail) segment from Nejedly Staging Area to Berrellessa Street in Martinez is a ½-mile paved Class I trail that will connect to Carquinez Scenic Drive near the Nejedly Staging Area, traverse Park District property across an existing pedestrian bridge, then travel along Union Pacific Railroad (UPRR) tracks to Berrellessa Street. This trail project will allow the connection of existing Bay Trail segments through Carquinez Strait Regional Shoreline to existing Bay Trail segments along the Martinez Regional Shoreline, and to the Martinez Intermodal Rail Station. The project will also include safety improvements to the at-grade railroad crossing of Berrellesa Street.
An Initial Study / Mitigated Negative Declaration (IS/MND) was originally prepared and adopted by the City of Martinez (City) for approval of the Martinez Bay Trail Phase II Project (Project) located in Martinez, CA. A portion of the Project was constructed while construction of the rest of the Project was put on hold until an easement could be obtained from Union Pacific Railroad (UPRR). In 2016, the East Bay Regional Park District (Park District) amended and restated the MOU with UPRR which approved a longitudinal easement along UPRR’s railroad tracks to allow the project to move forward. The Park District is now finalizing preliminary design for the remaining project, and design of new but non-substantial improvements to the existing railroad crossing at Berrellesa Street.
On August 7, 2020, the City responded to the Park District’s request, dated July 31, 2020, for the Park District to act as Lead Agency for the Project. The Park District has prepared an Addendum to evaluate whether the Project would result in any new or substantially greater significant effects or require any new mitigation measures not identified in the 2003 MND that project proponents would decline to adopt. This Addendum, together with the 2003 MND will meet requirements pursuant to CEQA of the Proposed Project.
CEQA
The Addendum evaluated whether the Project would result in any new or substantially more significant effects or require any new mitigation measures that project proponents decline to adopt. Although the project was approved in 2003, there are no substantial changes to the project that would result in previously unidentified significant impacts. In addition, the environmental setting has not changed in a manner that would lead to new or substantially different impacts. The new improvements to bring existing railroad crossing facilities to current standards do not result in previously unidentified impacts nor result in substantial changes to the Original Project.
The revised project would not result in any previously unidentified impacts or identify additional mitigation measures that project proponents would decline to adopt. A biological resources assessment and updated wetland delineation was completed in May 2020 to support the analysis in this Addendum. The biological resource assessment recommended general avoidance and minimization measures that were not typical in 2003 but are now common conditions of approval for projects. The Park District will adopt and implement these mitigation measures for the Project.