Voice support for safety and connectivity on May 14 Get Azalea Hill Over the Top

A critical new trail connecting Mt. Tamalpais Watershed with Pine Mountain is within reach, but first we need your help. Marin Municipal Water District’s Board of Directors will consider whether to approve the project at its meeting next Tuesday, May 14 at 7:30 PM. That’s where you come in!

A strong showing from mountain bike advocates will help push this long-envisioned project over the top. Please click the link below for more information and to sign-up for the meeting; we’ll send you a reminder and talking points beforehand.

Azalea Hill Project Public Hearing

Since 2011, MCBC has worked to win access to Azalea Hill (above the Meadow Club Golf Course), getting mountain bike riders off Bolinas-Fairfax Road and onto a new Pine Mountain trail connector skirting the edge of Alpine Lake. This is our opportunity, with Marin Municipal Water District (MMWD) set to review the project’s final CEQA document, and consider approving the project.

Join MCBC and fellow trail supporters on Tuesday, May 14 to tell MMWD what this trail would mean to you.

WHAT: Support Azalea Hill Project Approval at the MMWD Board Meeting

WHEN: Tuesday, May 14 at 7:30 PM

WHERE: MMWD, 220 Nellen Ave, Corte Madera

RSVP: tom@www.marinbike.org

Talking Points

• Thank staff for their work moving this project forward

• Call out safety benefits of getting bicyclists off narrow Bolinas-Fairfax Road

• Call out the environmental benefits resulting from the decommission of 4.5 miles of social trails through a serpentine habitat

• Call out the reduction of sediment into our drinking water with repairs to the old Liberty Gulch Road

• The project can serve as a powerful vehicle to broaden awareness and appreciation of the rare plant and animal communities.

• Pledge to stay on the trail; opponents claim bikes go off trail.

Project Benefits

• The project provides a safe alternative to the current bike route around the golf course and up Bolinas-Fairfax Road on a 1.3 mile stretch of windy road with no shoulder.

• In addition to the adoption of Liberty Gulch Trail for all users (including bikes), the project enhances an existing hiker/equestrian trail and keeps it closed to bikes, so visitors have options.

• The project decommissions 4.5 miles of social trail that fragment over 100 acres of Serpentine habitat.

• The project recycles a historic road to provide safe access for all trail users.

• The project allows for enhancements to the Liberty Gulch Road, which will prevent over 4,000 cubic yards of sediment from entering Azalea Hill’s creeks or Alpine Lake over 20 years.

• The project can serve as a powerful vehicle to broaden awareness and appreciation of the rare plant and animal communities.

• Mitigation Measures BIO-10 and BIO-13 which will ensure that the decommissioned trails will remain closed and that non-native plants do not spread in this area.

• The project is thorough in its cataloging of native plants and suggested avoidance measures.

• The project is in an ideal place for interpretive features to celebrate the 100th anniversary of the Alpine Dam.

• Expanding the inclusiveness of the project by adding bicycle connectivity increases the chances of receiving grant funding and public donations for both the trail work and habitat restoration work.

• The proposed bicycle alignment will place cyclists at a location below the Azalea Hill Parking lot and current bike-legal trail to the top of the hill, which will eliminate the need for bike access to the top of Azalea Hill.

• Bicyclists are ready and willing to help with both the trail work and habitat restoration.

For maps and other details visit https://marinbike.org/news/offroad/comments-needed-today-on-azalea-hill-ceqa-document/