East Bidwell Street trail steps forward in Folsom

The City of Folsom is chugging forward on more than a mile of Class 1 trail along the East Bidwell Street railroad tracks. The Folsom City Council approved a required supplement agreement April 14 with Caltrans for the Folsom-Placerville Rail Trail Project. Construction should kick off in the fall and last a year, capped with an October 2027 opening, authorities said. The funded plan includes 1.25 miles stretching from Humbug-Willow Creek Trail between Creekside Drive and Oak Avenue Parkway on the west to Iron Point Road east. Most of the project would parallel East Bidwell Street along the old Southern Pacific spur line to El Dorado County, now within the Sacramento-Placerville Transportation Corridor Joint Powers Authority. The trail alignment is located on the east side of East Bidwell Street. The trail would extend from Iron Point to the existing Humbug-Willow Creek Trail. The project will fill a critical gap in the city's Class I trail network, part of the only Class I trail connection to Folsom Ranch south of Highway 50. The city is also moving forward on a Folsom Ranch trail connection project transiting under the freeway overpass. The city won a $1.05 million active transportation grant in 2015 through Caltrans with a $136,000 city match partially funding the project. The Sacramento Area Council of Governments Board fully funded the project in 2023. The total project budget increased from $1.23 million to $3.23 million, or enough funds to complete the design and construction of the segment, staff said.