Trail History
Community Activists in the 1970's said "No to Highway 77."
It’s a story of railroads, evolving transportation needs, urban planning, and the events that shaped the hills neighborhood identity of Shepherd Canyon.
At one level, our interpretive signs tell the story of the history of the Inter-Urban Railroads and of a by-gone era. They also tell the story of changing transportation needs as the rising popularity of the automobile in the 1950’s marked the end of the Sacramento Northern Railroad. From 1928, the SN Railway had passed through Montclair Village and Shepherd Canyon on the way to Sacramento and Chico.
This same increase in automobile use also required setting aside a greater portion of land for highways. In fact, CALTRANS bought the railroad right-of-way because they saw Shepherd Canyon as a prime location for Highway 77, which they had planned to extend from Park Boulevard, with a cloverleaf at Highway 13, through Shepherd Creek near Scout Road, then joining the former Sacramento Northern railroad right of way along Shepherd Canyon Road, and heading out to the Orinda, Walnut Creek area. CALTRANS bought up land in Shepherd Canyon starting in the 1950’s for Highway 77. However, by the 1970’s interest in alternative modes of transportation drew attention to the fact that CALTRANS had planned Highway 77 prior to the advent of BART, and only two miles from then existing Highway 24. In an effort both to encourage alternative modes of transportation, and to preserve Shepherd Canyon, this was then one of the largest undeveloped areas in Oakland, residents worked with State Assembly Member Ken Meade to cancel the Highway 77 Plans.
On another level, the signs also tell the story of community activism: first to cancel the highway and then to plan what was to happen next with the CALTRANS land. Once the highway was cancelled, CALTRANS had excess property on their hands which they needed to sell. To prevent haphazard development, residents worked with both CALTRANS and the City of Oakland, to create the Shepherd Canyon Corridor Plan. The City of Oakland conducted one of the first Environmental Impact Reports (EIR’s) in California, under a then new statute called the California Environmental Quality Act (CEQA), and issued a moratorium on new development until the plan could be completed.
The result was the Shepherd Canyon Corridor Plan, which still today shapes the use of Shepherd Canyon. As part of this plan, Shepherd Canyon Road, then called upper Park Boulevard, got its current name. Another result was that 34 acres were set aside for public use and named Shepherd Canyon Park. The park includes not only the soccer field which passersby readily recognize, but also a much larger Resource Conservation area. Shepherd Creek (which now runs freely from the south end of the soccer field, below Fire Station 24, to Scout Road) was saved from being filled in under highway footings. Provisions were made for specific parcels of land to be bought from CALTRANS, “at cost”, provided they be used for alternative transportation, such as trails. The old railroad right-of-way is now the Montclair Railroad Trail, one of Oakland's newest linear parks.
At one level, our interpretive signs tell the story of the history of the Inter-Urban Railroads and of a by-gone era. They also tell the story of changing transportation needs as the rising popularity of the automobile in the 1950’s marked the end of the Sacramento Northern Railroad. From 1928, the SN Railway had passed through Montclair Village and Shepherd Canyon on the way to Sacramento and Chico.
This same increase in automobile use also required setting aside a greater portion of land for highways. In fact, CALTRANS bought the railroad right-of-way because they saw Shepherd Canyon as a prime location for Highway 77, which they had planned to extend from Park Boulevard, with a cloverleaf at Highway 13, through Shepherd Creek near Scout Road, then joining the former Sacramento Northern railroad right of way along Shepherd Canyon Road, and heading out to the Orinda, Walnut Creek area. CALTRANS bought up land in Shepherd Canyon starting in the 1950’s for Highway 77. However, by the 1970’s interest in alternative modes of transportation drew attention to the fact that CALTRANS had planned Highway 77 prior to the advent of BART, and only two miles from then existing Highway 24. In an effort both to encourage alternative modes of transportation, and to preserve Shepherd Canyon, this was then one of the largest undeveloped areas in Oakland, residents worked with State Assembly Member Ken Meade to cancel the Highway 77 Plans.
On another level, the signs also tell the story of community activism: first to cancel the highway and then to plan what was to happen next with the CALTRANS land. Once the highway was cancelled, CALTRANS had excess property on their hands which they needed to sell. To prevent haphazard development, residents worked with both CALTRANS and the City of Oakland, to create the Shepherd Canyon Corridor Plan. The City of Oakland conducted one of the first Environmental Impact Reports (EIR’s) in California, under a then new statute called the California Environmental Quality Act (CEQA), and issued a moratorium on new development until the plan could be completed.
The result was the Shepherd Canyon Corridor Plan, which still today shapes the use of Shepherd Canyon. As part of this plan, Shepherd Canyon Road, then called upper Park Boulevard, got its current name. Another result was that 34 acres were set aside for public use and named Shepherd Canyon Park. The park includes not only the soccer field which passersby readily recognize, but also a much larger Resource Conservation area. Shepherd Creek (which now runs freely from the south end of the soccer field, below Fire Station 24, to Scout Road) was saved from being filled in under highway footings. Provisions were made for specific parcels of land to be bought from CALTRANS, “at cost”, provided they be used for alternative transportation, such as trails. The old railroad right-of-way is now the Montclair Railroad Trail, one of Oakland's newest linear parks.
