Sonoma County reopens stretch of Joe Rodota Trail after major cleanup

A nearly 3-mile section of the Joe Rodota Trail that had been closed for major cleaning and repair work since late January reopened to the public on Saturday.

There was no ceremony to mark the end of the $450,000 cleanup that followed the clearance of the massive homeless encampment that kept bicyclists, joggers and walkers from enjoying the stretch of one of the most popular Santa Rosa-area trails.

Crews removed about 100 tons of debris and hazardous materials. The only remaining vestiges Saturday that a homeless camp existed in the area were some rat bait stations lined up against the chain-linked fences bordering the trail.

The fences also are in the process of being repaired and improved.

Visitors to the reopened trail section will see improvements such as surface restoration in some areas and new gravel along the shoulders, said Bert Whitaker, the director of Sonoma County Regional Parks.

There were a few bicyclists riding on a cloudy Saturday afternoon along a stretch just west of Stony Point Road that previously was occupied for months by an encampment of up to 250 homeless people - a site that was a visible focal point of the severity of the homeless crisis across the Bay Area.

“It is such an important resource, not just to the cycling community but for everybody - walkers, people who take their kids out on strollers. It’s great to have it back,” said Paul Larkin, stopping to talk to a reporter as he bicycled from his home in Sebastopol.

Larkin said he was grateful to have the full 8.5-mile trail between Sebastopol and Santa Rosa completely open again. During the closure, he was forced to share the streets along with cars in areas such as the heavily traveled Fulton Road.

“It was pretty busy to get to the Creek Trail to ride into Santa Rosa,” he said of the automobile traffic along Fulton Road. “This just really encourages people to use alternate transportation.”

Whitaker said when the trail section was closed people realized how important the trail was to their daily lives.

Given Sonoma County’s focus on readiness and response to coronavirus-?related matters, county officials opted for a low-key trail reopening.

“If it offers some people some sense of normalcy, then that’s a success,” Supervisor Lynda Hopkins said Saturday.

Hopkins represents the area where the homeless encampment was stationed. It unnerved residents who lived near the trail, especially after a rash of fires, rats and the unsanitary conditions at the compound.

County officials contend the circumstances that led to formation of the encampment late last year should not reappear because they are spending $12 million to combat the homelessness spike. County officials have been finding alternative housing sites, such as the temporary shelter now in use at the Los Guilicos Juvenile Justice Center.

“Right now we have a policy we didn’t have before,” Hopkins said.

The Rodota trail cleanup may help increase support for expansion of other trails in Sonoma County, especially if the homeless do not come back to congregate. For example, Hopkins is an advocate for a 23-mile Lower Russian River Trail from Healdsburg to Jenner.

“I’m hoping that this will give people confidence we can develop and expand our trail network,” Hopkins said.

You can reach Staff Writer Bill Swindell at 707-521-5223 or bill.swindell@pressdemocrat.com. On Twitter @BillSwindell.