More miles of trails in works to connect Mangini Ranch

With two phases built and more coming, Folsom officials are now designing trails to connect the dots in new Mangini Ranch. The Mangini Ranch trails project is located in the new Folsom Ranch area south of Highway 50. The area is bound by Alder Creek Parkway to the north, Old Placerville Road to the east, East Bidwell Street to the west and White Rock Road to the south. The Folsom Plan includes more than 30 miles of planned trails in Folsom Ranch, and city staff said there are about five miles of trails already built in the area. With the recent construction of two Mangini Ranch phases and future streets underway, Folsom staff is designing Mangini trail segments to connect to parks, schools and other neighborhoods. For example, the 12-acre Prospector Park is coming soon to Mangini Parkway at the new Mangini Park School. Scheduled to be finished in the fall, the park will include a children's playground, lighted multi-use sports field, lighted ball field, tennis, volleyball and basketball courts, dog park, restrooms and parking lot for 118 cars, authorities said. Developers expect roughly three more miles of trails to design for the area, at the moment. The trail alignments through the new residential development were greenlit as part of Mangini Ranch project approvals, staff said. The City Council awarded a contract to Kimley-Horn and Associates to prepare the design and engineering plans for the Folsom Plan Area Mangini Ranch Trails project in 2021. The original contract was to procure specialized professional services to design and engineer the proposed trails. After completing the design, KH asked to include two additional Class I trail improvement areas that were outside of the original contract scope. One of the new areas will continue the Class I trail, built by another developer north of the SMUD substation, to connect to the existing Class I trail to the east, crossing the former Old Placerville Road and railroad tracks. The other area will continue the Class I trail on the east side, parallel to the railroad tracks from the existing Class I trail south of Grand Prairie to White Rock Road, 2,400 feet in length, staff said. A topographic survey is necessary to complete the design of the Class I trail track crossing, while the trail extension south to White Rock Road will be completed using scaled aerial imagery, staff said. As part of the consent agenda, the Folsom City Council voted Tuesday to amend the Kimley-Horn contract for an additional $31,000 for a total of $211,974. Sufficient funds are budgeted for Mangini Ranch trails, staff said.