SACRAMENTO, Calif. — Big changes are coming to Del Rio Trail in Sacramento! The trail is nearly five miles of old railway corridor stretching from Land Park and South Sacramento, between Freeport Road and Interstate 5.
Right now, there are old tracks going through it and some parts of the trail aren’t accessible, but that will change. The trail will run through several neighborhoods and parks, and serve as a gathering place for people to spend time outdoors.
A Thursday groundbreaking to make it more accessible for bicyclists, joggers, and dog walkers marked a major milestone in the trail project. Planning has been in the works for several years and it’s a collaborative effort between city officials, Caltrans, and neighbors.
Skip and Shirley Rosenbloom live close to the trail and they walk along it every day with their dog.
“You have people walking their dogs, riding their bikes,” said Shirley.
Skip says the trail sees lots of foot traffic and he's looking forward to a revamp.
“Yeah, very popular. If it's a nice surface, it'll be used enormously,” said Skip.
About $2.5 million is going toward further beautification of the trail through artwork.
Donald Gensler is the Art in Public Places Project Manager with the Sacramento Office of Arts and Culture. He says cultivating places where people can gather and have a sense of place in their community is a necessity.
“These are kind of core needs for communities to have spaces where they can go explore. I think art and culture just help to enhance that experience,” said Gensler.
The city is accepting applications from artists interested in contributing to artwork along the trail. There are two phases for the artwork portion of the project.
In phase one, 20 Sacramento-based artists will be commissioned for creative works in any art form. This could be poetry, painting, or even dance.
“The work may be presented on the trail, like you could have a dancer that choreographs a dance and we could have a performance on the trail,” said Gensler.
Phase two commissions five artists to create wayfinding sculptures along the trail, and two artists will create a larger art piece serving as a gathering place for trail-goers.
The project should wrap up in the summer of 2024. For more information about it, click here. To learn more about the art position or to apply, click here.
