The Iron Horse Trail is one of the largest and oldest multi-use trails in the Bay Area, and is a treasured community asset. Alta led a feasibility study for Contra Costa County to test new approaches along the 22-mile corridor for future active transportation mobility. The Study envisions a trail that can serve as an active transportation spine, or bicycle superhighway to support the region’s mobility goals through consistent and cohesive improvements.

Alta estimated potential demand along the corridor and examined how different trail improvement scenarios, including various trail cross-sections, intersection improvements, and under- and overcrossings, would influence perceived distances between major origins and destinations connected by the trail which were used in the project prioritization process.

These analyses were tied together with community and stakeholder feedback and design tools to develop a new vision for the corridor—one that better accommodates pedestrians and bicyclists of all ages and abilities, as well as users of other emerging mobility options such as e-bikes and e-scooters. The Study also envisions a corridor that would not preclude the use of shared autonomous vehicles.