An abandoned railroad corridor cutting through some of Berkeley, California's most park-starved neighborhoods is finally becoming public green space, with the city moving forward on a $3.2 million project to build community gardens, a dog park, a children's playground, and outdoor fitness areas on the old Santa Fe trackbed.
The site, on the southernmost block of the former rail right-of-way near Sojourner Truth Court in South Berkeley, sits in a neighborhood that has long had less park acreage per capita than wealthier parts of the city. South and West Berkeley, which are home to a disproportionately lower-income and more diverse population than the Berkeley Hills, have been identified repeatedly in the city's parks planning documents as priority areas for new investment. Community garden plots at existing Berkeley facilities often carry waiting lists stretching years, underscoring how much demand this project is meant to address.
The planned park would include raised garden beds, a fenced dog run, a kids' playground with a tot cycle track, picnic areas, ADA-accessible pathways and plazas, outdoor fitness stations, irrigation, lighting, and drinking fountains. The $3.2 million price tag reflects Bay Area construction costs, which rank among the highest in the country.
The Santa Fe Railroad operated freight and passenger service through Berkeley for over a century before abandoning the corridor, leaving a narrow strip of locked, fenced land slicing through residential blocks. The conversion is part of a broader national rails-to-trails movement that has transformed more than 25,000 miles of defunct rail lines into recreational corridors since Congress created funding mechanisms for the effort in the 1980s and 1990s. In the East Bay, the Ohlone Greenway to the north was also built on an old Santa Fe right-of-way.
Berkeley's Black population has declined sharply over recent decades, from roughly 20 percent of residents in 1980 to about 8 percent today, driven in large part by rising housing costs. The South Berkeley neighborhood around Sojourner Truth Court, which includes public and affordable housing developments, has been at the center of that displacement. Advocates have pushed for years to see the trackbed converted to community use rather than sold for development, making the project both a parks equity investment and a test of whether improved amenities arrive in time to benefit the residents who have long lived there.
The city is now seeking a contractor to build the park, with bids due June 11, 2026. Once a contractor is selected and construction begins, the timeline for when residents will actually be able to use the space has not yet been publicly announced.
