by City of San Jose - Parks, Recreation, and Neighborhood Services
The City of San José is a recognized national leader for trail development and its network approach to ensure equitable access to recreation and active transportation trails. The high quality of San José’s trail network occurred through a focus on innovation, data-driven decision making, access through major barriers, beneficial partnerships, and focused and rapid paced development. This Toolkit documents the City’s approach to quality planning and design to ensure a common understanding by all persons involved in the championing, planning, and design of trail projects.
Use of this toolkit and adherence to its guidelines ensure that trails meet functional and aesthetic objectives, provide common and familiar infrastructure, and advance the state of the practice. The Toolkit is purposely general and broad when defining preferred planning and design approaches.
San José has one of the nation’s largest trail networks which leads to numerous opportunities and constraints. Planners and designers should view the Toolkit as a starting point and rely on related local, state, and federal documents for detailed guidance based on specific site conditions.
The Toolkit has been formatted for quick access to key details. It serves as a starting point to gain a general understanding of the “why” and “what” of planning and design decisions. Photographs, figures, and charts are used when possible to reinforce subject matter.
Published July 2018
San José has hundreds of unique and breath-taking venues perfect for an outside day. Visit one of San José’s 200+ parks, hike along 60 miles of scenic trails or visit a regional park.
Visit City of San Jose - Parks, Recreation, and Neighborhood Services
Fort River Birding and Nature Trail
The Fort River Birding and Nature Trail is a universally accessible trail. It was presented with the 2014 Paul Winske Access Award by the Stavros Center for Independent Living.
For trails to be considered “sustainable” they must meet these recreational needs while providing adequate protection to the environment while minimizing trail maintenance.
American Trails Webinar - The Science of Sustainable Trail Design and Management
This webinar describes the three most common forms of trail impact, identifies the most influential factors to develop and maintain sustainable trail networks, and discusses methods for rating trail sustainability.
Highway-Rail Crossing Handbook
The purpose of the Highway-Rail Crossing Handbook, 3rd Edition is an information resource developed to provide a unified reference document on prevalent and best practices as well as adopted standards relative to highway-rail grade crossings.
