West County Trail - Occidental Road

What & Why? 

A critical on-street connection for the West County Trail is a 0.87-mile section of Occidental Road between Atascadero Creek and Highway 116. Currently, pedestrians and bicyclists use the existing bike lanes on Occidental Road to connect to the West County Trail. However, the posted speed limit for this section of road is 50 mph, and there is no sidewalk or separated pathway on Occidental Road for them to use. 

This proposed project will develop a separated pathway on Occidental Road, thereby increasing safety and improving trail user experience.

What’s Next? 

The next steps for this project are to: 

• Prepare preliminary engineering that will help determine the location of the separated path and if additional right of way is needed.
• Acquire public right of way as needed. 
• Complete the environmental work and host public meeting to solicit public input. 
• Obtain funding for construction. 
• Prepare improvement plans and specifications. 
• Secure permits. 
• Publicly bid the project.