The City of Pacific Grove successfully secured the necessary funding for the Point Pinos Trail Project that had a construction cost of $2,857,984. The California Coastal Conservancy Board approved a $1.8 million grant that included $1 million from a Climate Ready Grant and $800,000 from Safe Drinking Water, Water Quality and Supply, Flood Control, River and Coastal Protection Bond Act (Proposition 84). In September 2020, the City was awarded $382,000 from the Regional Surface Transportation Program competitive grant administered by the Transportation Agency. Pacific Grove was also awarded a $381,922 Greenway Grant (Prop 68) from the California Natural Resource Agency (CNRA). The City used $232,780 from the general fund and $61,280 from the City’s Regional Surface Transportation Fair Share allocation to complete the project funding.

The Point Pinos Trail project addressed a 0.8 mile gap on a recreation trail along the coastline in the City of Pacific Grove. The Point Pinos Trail Project developed a 5-foot wide decomposed granite coastal trail within a natural setting seaward of Ocean View Boulevard. The coastal trail connected the existing curb side trail near Acropolis Street west to the Great Tide Pool site. The project locates the trail outside the 30-year coastal retreat setback line, except where moving the trail beyond this line is constrained by Ocean View Boulevard. In these cases, the trail is along the north side of the road, such as along Crespi Pond.

This project is the culmination of years of public feedback, design, and engineering. The project began in 2012 as a general concept by the Pacific Grove Recreation Board. Since its inception, the project has made tremendous progress. Project milestones include:

• Completion of the Point Pinos Trail Plan and Coastal Study (June 2017)
• City Council approval of the Mitigated Negative Declaration (December 6, 2017)
• Receipt of a Coastal Development Permit Waiver from the California Coastal Commission (April 11, 2018)
• Completion of construction drawings and specifications (February 7, 2020)
• Release of a request for construction bids  (May of 2020)
• Construction commenced April 2021
• Notice of Substantial Completion February 2022

The scope of work for this complex project included:

1. Construction of the .8 mile stretch of the Coastal Trail
2. Restoration of over 100,000 sq feet of native vegetation
3. Establishing 10 beach access points
4. Developing uniformed parking and install driveway approaches
5. Enhance stormwater capture, and
6. Creating a boardwalk above the shoreline dunes adjacent to Crespi Pond.  

The funding for this project follows:

- Coastal Conservancy Grant: $1,800,000

- Regional Surface Transportation Program (RSTP) Grant: $382,000

- California Natural Resource Agency Grant: $381,922

- RSTP Fair Share Funding: $61,282

- General Fund: $232,780

The lessons learned from this project include:

• Need extensive coordination between contractors with archeological and tribal monitoring
• Ensure that billing with contractor line items align with grant reimbursement
• All parties need to be hands-on
• Strive for community involvement during design to promote flexibility and field adaptation