Modesto Council OKs Beard Brook Park, Gallo land swap to build walk along Tuolumne River
The City Council has approved a land swap with the E.&J. Gallo Winery that lets the city build a pedestrian bridge over Dry Creek and is part of the creation of a river walk along the entire length of the Tuolumne River Regional Park.
The swap means Gallo will get the roughly 12-acre Beard Brook Park and the city will get roughly the same amount of nearby Gallo land along the Tuolumne.
Beard Brook is along Dry Creek and south of Yosemite Boulevard and between the E.&J. Gallo Winery and Stanislaus Food Products. The park once was a gem among the city’s green spaces but now is home to illegal dumping, drug use and homeless encampments.
The project to build a bridge over Dry Creek near where it flows into the Tuolumne includes three-quarters of a mile of paved trail, a picnic pavilion, restrooms, lighting, security cameras, concrete benches and tables, and other features.
Officials have said the city has the money for the project’s design work but needs to secure the rest of the funding. City officials nearly a year ago estimated the project’s total cost at $6.3 million. The city has paid for improvements at the regional park through grants.
Modesto also is moving forward on a project for a pedestrian and bicycle trail linking the Dry Creek Regional Park trail where it begins at Kewin and Moose parks with the Tuolumne River Regional Park river walk near Beard Brook Park.
The City Council’s Safety and Communities Committee on Jan. 18 approved a contract for as much as $511,424 with Mark Thomas & Co. for the design and construction plan for the trail. The full City Council is expected to approve awarding the contract at its Feb. 14 meeting.
The design and construction plan is expected to take about a year and will include public meetings to gather input on a route that is safe for pedestrians and bicyclists. The trail could cross Yosemite Boulevard via a crosswalk at north and south Morton Boulevards.
The trail would include a narrow strip of Beard Brook along South Morton Drive. The city is keeping the strip of land as part of the land swap with Gallo. The Mark Thomas contract does not include construction of the trail.
Tuolumne River Regional Park is more than 500 acres and runs for about seven miles along the river, from Mitchell to Carpenter roads. It includes Mancini, Legion and Bellenita parks, as well as the 87-acre Gateway Parcel, which is in the center of the regional park and near Beard Brook and downtown.
The City Council approved the land swap at its Tuesday meeting on a 7-0 vote.
The final paperwork for the transaction needs to be completed by June 30, which is the state’s deadline for the transaction. Modesto needed state approval because it used a state grant for Beard Brook improvements about 20 years ago. City officials say they are confident the transaction will conclude well before the state deadline.
This story was originally published January 25, 2023 at 10:16 AM.
