Coversheet


Agenda Item 7.


TRANSPORTATION AGENCY FOR MONTEREY COUNTY *Memorandum*

To:	Technical Advisory Committee
From:	Stefania Castillo, Transportation Planner
Meeting Date:	November 7, 2019
Subject:	Fort Ord Regional Trail and Greenway Environmental Impact Report Update

RECOMMENDED ACTION:
RECEIVE update on the Fort Ord Regional Trail and Greenway environmental impact report.

SUMMARY:
The draft environmental impact report for the Fort Ord Regional Trail and Greenway project will be released for public review in mid November. A public review period of at least 45 days will follow. A public hearing to accept comments on the draft environmental impact report will take place at the December 4, 2019 TAMC Board of Directors meeting.

FINANCIAL IMPACT:
The TAMC Board of Directors awarded a $1 million contract to Alta Planning + Design, Inc. on August 22, 2018 for state environmental review and preliminary design of the 27-mile long Fort Ord Regional Trail and Greenway project.

DISCUSSION:

The Fort Ord Regional Trail and Greenway project proposes to construct an approximately 27-mile continuous 12-foot wide paved bicycle and pedestrian trail with an open-space buffer on both sides. This trail will connect the Monterey Peninsula cities from the Monterey Bay Coastal Trail to the California State Monterey Bay University campus through the former Fort Ord open space area.

TAMC staff has been working with the County of Monterey, the cities of Del Rey Oaks, Marina, Monterey and Seaside, the California State University at Monterey Bay, the Monterey Peninsula Regional Park District and the public to gather input to define alternatives to be evaluated. The consultant team has performed the field reviews, technical studies, outreach events, and public information meetings required to prepare the draft environmental impact report.

Staff is conducting an internal review of the consultant's work on the draft environmental impact report, which is expected to be ready for circulation on or about November 13, 2019. The environmental review process for the entire Fort Ord Regional Trail and Greenway project is expected to be completed by early 2020.

A draft Master Agreement including maintenance responsibilities is being circulated by TAMC to the underlying jurisdictions for their review and is expected to be executed in early 2020, concurrent with the certification of the environmental impact report by TAMC as the lead agency and by the underlying jurisdictions as responsible agencies.

As any given segment of the Fort Ord Regional Trail and Greenway receives sufficient funding the underlying jurisdictions for each segment will enter into a Supplemental Agreement specifying in greater detail the terms of implementation.