A new walking path about to go up along Calaboose Creek that will link Redding’s Wildwood Park neighborhood to the city’s downtown is a dream come true for Terri Moravec.
The creek that meanders through the leafy community of homes in one of the city’s oldest subdivisions has attracted more families with young children, said Moravec, as well as drawn unsheltered people and folks who “leave debris and drink beer.”
“I just think a trail like that is a very healthy activity,” said Moravec, a longtime block captain with the community’s Neighborhood Watch group.
“We love it, to see the families out walking dogs, pushing strollers, children on little scooters and things,” said Moravec. “We love the idea of a trail and healthy activities because it really activates the community.”
Redding Transportation Planner Zach Bonnin said a state grant is paying for the paved path coming as part of the $4 millon Calaboose Creek Revitalization Project.
Calaboose Creek historically flowed through the downtown area and now runs beneath many existing streets and buildings, with portions of the waterway surfacing near the Riverfront Playhouse and Plantable on nearby California Street.
The grant application says the paved, 10 -to-12-foot-wide path will be constructed on city-owned right-of-way that generally follows the historic creek and now is unused or poorly maintained.
In addition to sidewalks and multi-use paths with curb and gutter improvements, there will be water-efficient landscaping and decorative fencing designed in partnership with local artists, the state grant said.
“Currently, the area functions as an undefined space that collects trash, roadway runoff and invasive vegetation, diminishing the appearance and function of a highly visible gateway into Downtown Redding,” said the application, filed jointly by the city of Redding and nonprofit training center Plantable.
The city said the project “will rehabilitate these areas adjacent to the creek and nearby railroad corridor,” transforming them into “a unique destination within the city.”
Plantable will contribute to clean debris out of the creek and make landscaping additions and community outreach efforts, Bonnin said.
The nonprofit group will also hire low-income individuals and developmentally disabled people and train them “to do these types of activities and jobs. (Plantable) is also a job training type program and that’s kind of what the grant people are pretty excited about,” said Bonnin.
The project is the latest change in the area after a fuel tanker truck flipped over on Pine Street, just north of Cypress Avenue in downtown Redding in 2022 and spilled 4,000 gallons of a toxic mixture of petroleum-based fuels. Some of the spill drained into Calaboose Creek and other waterways.
In 2024, Plantable moved in to formerly abandoned buildings and opened a plant nursery and job training hub.
Moravec, who has lived in the neighborhood for 35 years, agreed the changes “will be a great thing for our community.”
“We have seen cranes in the creek, we’ve seen ducks back in the creek. So the wildlife is coming back. We love our creek. We love the idea of a trail and healthy activities because it really activates the community,” she said.
The addition of a trail along the creek is a more complicated issue for Patricia Lind, a volunteer with the city’s Adopt a Creek program, which helps remove debris from Calaboose Creek.
In an email sent to the Redding City Council in February, Lind said she likes the city’s “plan to have the invasive, non-native plants removed and native riparian plants planted” in their place along the creek as part of the renovation.
More tourism could also cause more erosion for the creek and more litter, she said, and using blacktop for the walking path could introduce toxins into the creek and hurt fish living there.
She said that “just cleaning a small part of a creek is not good enough since the pollution flows through lower parts of the creek and into the Sacramento River.”
“The primary focus should be on restoring the creek, which I feel it has not been,” said Lind.
Michele Chandler covers public safety, reports on trials in Shasta County Superior Court, writes about restaurants and handles whatever else comes up for the Redding Record Searchlight/USA Today Network. Accepts story tips at 530-338-7753 and at mrchandler@gannett.com. Pleasesupport our entire newsroom’s commitment to public service journalism by subscribing today.
This article originally appeared on Redding Record Searchlight: New Redding walking path coming to downtown in $4M renovation
Reporting by Michele Chandler, Redding Record Searchlight / Redding Record Searchlight
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