"A strip of a former rail line through Southwest Berkeley will be transformed this year into the city's newest park, boasting community gardens, children's play areas and a dog park across four long-neglected blocks. An extensive environmental clean-up for the quarter-mile stretch of the old Santa Fe rail corridor between Blake and Ward streets is set to get underway this spring, Parks Director Scott Ferris told Berkeleyside."
"Plans for the space really got going in 2021, when Berkeley received a $5 million state grant, funded by the 2018 parks and water bond Proposition 68, which will cover most of the cost of remediating the soil and building the park. The project's total price tag is $8 million, with the rest of the funding coming from Berkeley's parks tax and general fund, Ferris said."
An extensive environmental clean-up is scheduled this spring for a quarter-mile stretch of the former Santa Fe rail corridor between Blake and Ward streets in Southwest Berkeley. Construction of a new park across four blocks will follow in summer with anticipated completion by year-end. The site currently consists of fenced, overgrown lots with arsenic-contaminated soil. The city acquired the right-of-way in 1977 and previously converted other segments to parks and trails. Funding includes a $5 million state grant from Proposition 68 plus roughly $3 million from Berkeley’s parks tax and general fund, for a total project cost of $8 million. The park will include community gardens, children's play areas, and a dog park, with the northern block along Blake and Acton dedicated to community gardens.
Read at www.berkeleyside.org
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