Welcome to the Vine Trail! The Napa Valley Vine Trail Coalition is a grass-roots nonprofit with a vision to build a walking/biking trail system connecting the entire Napa Valley–and better join the Napa Valley to the rest of the active transportation world! WITH YOUR HELP we are working to design, fund, construct, and maintain 47 safe and scenic miles of level, paved, family-friendly, free-access Class I trail, stretching from the Vallejo Ferry to Calistoga.

The Vine Trail’s ranks of members and supporters have grown to over 5,000 since we started in September 2008. THANK YOU for your support and advocacy! Your dollars and volunteer hours are at the core of our ability to bring this ambitious plan to reality.

The Coalition is our grassroots effort to implement the Napa Greenway Feasibility Study, a study commissioned by the Napa County Transportation and Planning Agency that outlines a plan for a multi-use trail from Calistoga to Vallejo.  The northern portion of trail implementation runs from the Napa bike trail at Trancas Street and Highway 29 in Napa, to the Calistoga Bike Trail at Dunaweal Lane in Calistoga – a distance of 22 miles. The route here will follow Highway 29 and the Wine Train tracks.

The southern portion of the Vine Trail extends from Trancas and Highway 29 southeast across Napa, along the Wine Train Tracks to Soscal Avenue, and then south along the river through Kennedy Park to American Canyon.  From there, both a river route and an inland route are under investigation to meet up with the existing biking and hiking path in Vallejo that currently ends at the intersection of Highways 29 and 37.

We want to make this effort as open and available as possible to the entire valley community and so have created this website to communicate up to the minute information on what’s happening. The downside of course, is that this information will change over time, and often.  Our modest disclaimer: though you’ve seen it here, it may not be a done deal. All the more reason for the most open of communication lines; we’ll continue to rely on your comments on every aspect of what we are doing.  Please send us your thoughts, suggestions and ideas… the Vine Trail is for you!

Throughout this process we pledge to the community that:

• The process will be open and inclusive
• No vineyard land will be taken out of production
• All easements, use agreements, etc. will be voluntary
• Provisions will be made for ongoing maintenance & upkeep
• The result will be as beautiful as our Napa Valley

For an in-depth look at the goals and processes of the coalition and the Vine Trail, please peruse The Napa Valley Vine Trail Coalition Case Statement here.

On Wednesday, April 14th, all of the parties involved in making the first dedicated segment of the Napa Valley Vine Trail possible – Yountville Public Works, CalTrans, NV Vine Trail Coalition, and others – gathered to celebrate the groundbreaking and officially toast all of the hard work that has gone into making the project a reality.

Below is the original press release announcing the construction schedule, and photos from the event can be found on Flickr (click here). Another press release is available (click here) which describes cost of project, contractors involved and other organizations who have provided their support.

MEDIA RELEASE Date: March 29, 2010

Highway 29 Bike Path Project – Yountville Segment

Ghilotti Construction of Santa Rosa is scheduled to begin construction of the $1.3 million Highway 29 Bike Path Project around April 15 and complete the work by July, weather permitting.  The project, funded by a Federal Stimulus grant, includes the construction of about 4,000 feet of Class 1 Bike Path along the east side of Highway 29 from California Drive to Madison Street and provides an attractive alternative walking path around the Town. “We are pleased to start this project which is the first segment of the Napa Valley Vine Trail, will create construction jobs locally, and improve safety for bicyclists and pedestrians in Yountville” stated Steve Rogers, Town Manager.

The following is list of major construction activities in chronological order:

• Testing for aerially deposited lead to see if contaminated soil must be hauled to a landfill.
• Placement of temporary K-rail barriers along the east shoulder of Highway 29 to protect workers from errant drivers.
• Excavation for and installation of storm drain pipes.
• Grading and compaction of soil under the path.
• Paving of the path with asphalt concrete.
• Pouring permanent concrete barrier rails along portions of the path within 30 feet of the travelway to protect the public from errant drivers.
• Striping a cross walk at the northbound ramps of Highway 29 and California Drive.
• Striping bike lanes on the south side of Madison Street for both directions of bike traffic.
• Installation of signage, benches, bike racks, trash receptacles, and fencing.
• Removal of temporary K-rail barriers.

The only disruption to highway traffic should be during the placement and removal of temporary K-rail barriers at night. “The Resident Engineer will closely monitor the 8 AM to 6 PM regular construction work hours, noise limits, dust control measures, and the number of allowable working days. There is a $4,000 per day penalty for every day that the contractor delays the substantial completion of the project.” stated Graham Wadsworth, Public Works Director. TRS Consultants is the construction management firm on the project and any questions about the construction should be directed to Jim Adair at 925-570-4866 or jadair@trsconsultants.com, or Graham Wadsworth, Public Works Director, at 707-944-8851.