El Cerrito reflects on glass pathway

By Alan Lopez, Contra Costa Times
Sunday, August 14, 2005

EL CERRITO - The city may need to replace a pathway made of recycled glass at El Cerrito Plaza if it can't make the path accessible to people in wheelchairs.

Spanning three blocks between Talbot and Kains avenues, the pathway is nestled between a quiet creek and a bustling parking lot on the south side of El Cerrito Plaza.

The city installed it in late May as part of a number of improvements intended to help create a connection between the Ohlone Greenway and the San Francisco Bay Trail.

"I hope it works out," said Mayor Pro Tem Janet Abelson, who uses a motorized wheelchair. "But I know for wheelchair users, there's some difficulties."

The path is composed of pieces of green, brown, amber and clear recycled glass, also called cullet, tumbled to remove the sharp edges and then placed on mats made of shallow 2-inch-wide rings.

Like gravel, it crunches beneath the feet of a person walking over it, but it sparkles in the sunlight.

Susan Schwartz, the coordinator for the Friends of Five Creeks, said the path was primarily her idea. She said the city was looking for a material that would allow water to seep into the dirt, to avoid excess run-off into Cerrito Creek.

In addition, recycled glass is both cheap and has an interesting look, said Chris Kent, a landscape architect who helped design the project.

"It's used a lot for residential paths," said Kent, a principal with Oakland-based PGAdesign. "You can't find a lot of places where it's used commercially."

Kent said the glass, when stepped on or wheeled over, tends to slip out of the plastic rings, leaving little piles on the path.

Bicyclists are concerned that the glass, some of which spills onto the parking lot, will puncture their tires.

And the exposed rings create steering problems for people in wheelchairs.

"There's a drag that's created in my powerchair," said Abelson. "I also have trouble controlling the direction that I go in."

Melanie Mintz, El Cerrito's environmental analyst, said she and Public Works Director Jerry Bradshaw are evaluating the project and looking for a solution.

That may involve possibly mixing the cullet with another substance, such as decomposed granite or fine gravel, that would better adhere to the tubing.

Another option is removing the glass and plastic mats and replacing them with porous asphalt.

"We want (a path) that's both useful and ADA (Americans with Disabilities Act) compliant and not a maintenance problem," Mintz said.

Meanwhile, according to a flier posted around the path, residents with comments or suggestions about the trail can call the Public Works Department at 510-215-4382.

The flier also points out a number of other recent trail improvements: adjacent to the glass path, trail-side seating and an interpretive sign depicting the history and ecology of the creek from Talbot to Kains avenues, and signs directing pedestrians toward the Bay Trail.

After pedestrians cross west on San Pablo Avenue, they'll find more signs and new landscaping at Adams Street. The city has also installed a new gate and fence separating the creek and apartment buildings at Adams Street west to Creekside Park as well as a paved sidewalk at Creekside Park made of concrete and bits of recycled glass.

The El Cerrito Redevelopment Agency spent $65,000 on the $304,000 project, with the balance paid for through regional grants and taxes, including $191,358 from the San Francisco Bay Trail.

"We all hope this will eventually be part of a connection from the Bay Trail to the Ohlone Greenway," said Schwartz. "It's like the next step."

Reach Alan Lopez at 510-243-3578 or at alopez1@cctimes.com

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