Santa Rosa's Southeast Greenway Got Its Shape From a Highway That Was Never Built

Behind the homes on Mayette and Hoen avenues, a strip of open ground runs nearly two miles from Farmers Lane and Highway 12 to the edge of Spring Lake Regional Park. It is long and narrow and crosses three creeks. A planner starting from scratch would not draw a park this shape. Caltrans drew it, for a freeway.

That history matters this fall. Santa Rosa has started the master plan for what it now calls the Southeast Greenway, and the city's September announcement quotes Mayor Mark Stapp calling it "our new central park." The land is less like a central park and more like a two-mile hallway across east Santa Rosa. Two workshops in early November will help decide what goes along it.

A right-of-way that took twenty years to assemble

Caltrans bought this land between 1952 and 1972. The plan was to extend Highway 12 east from Farmers Lane, through what is now Spring Lake Park, toward Melita Road. A highway route needs one continuous strip of land, so the state bought the corridor piece by piece until it was one.

The plan faded slowly. According to the Southeast Greenway project history, the city took the extension out of its General Plan in the 1990s. The state formally cancelled the highway in 2014. By then, neighbors from the Neighborhood Association for Bennett Valley had already organized. They formed the Southeast Greenway Campaign in 2009. Thea Hensel was among the residents who started it, according to the Press Democrat.

The handover itself took ten more years:

1. 2015. The partners signed an agreement with Caltrans that opened the way to a purchase.
2. February 2024. Sonoma County Ag + Open Space approved up to $1 million toward the purchase.
3. May 2024. State transportation officials approved the sale.
4. October 2024. Santa Rosa completed the purchase of 49 acres for about $1.8 million, as The Press Democrat reported.
5. June 2026. The city hired CMG Landscape Architecture to lead the master plan.

The city did not get the whole corridor. Caltrans originally assembled 58 acres, and the state kept about 9 acres near Farmers Lane that will be developed as housing. So the park begins a short distance east of where the old highway route started.

Why the shape is the real asset

At nearly two miles long, the corridor can connect parts of east Santa Rosa that most people now drive between.

The Press Democrat's September 28 report describes a walking and bike path running the full length of the property. To the west, it would connect to the Prince Memorial Greenway and the SMART trail. To the east, it would reach Spring Lake and Trione-Annadel State Park. Ideas raised so far also include:

• a new entrance to Spring Lake at the east end
• better trailheads
• crossings at the three creeks
• access points from the surrounding neighborhoods

If those pieces get built, the strip stops being the back fence for a few streets. It becomes a route from downtown's trail network out to the county's biggest open spaces on the east side. The city's announcement presents east-west connections as one of the plan's main goals, along with recreation, environmental care, and places to gather. The city also says the specific amenities will be chosen to fit around a multi-use trail that runs the entire length. In other words, the trail is assumed. The open question is what goes beside it.

What the November workshops are actually weighing

Earlier community conversations produced a broad list of ideas, including picnic areas, community gardens, play areas, public art, and both active and quiet recreation. The Press Democrat describes an early outline based on the land itself. Ball fields, courts and picnic areas could go on the flat ground, and the easternmost end, closest to Spring Lake, would stay mostly natural open space.

Because the land is so narrow, every choice costs something. Space used for a court is space that can't be a garden or a quiet stretch of creek. The two fall workshops are where those trade-offs get raised in public for the first time:

If you can't attend either session, the city's online survey is open in English and Spanish. According to the city, the planning runs in three phases from fall 2026 through summer 2027. What people share this fall feeds the first concepts, and those concepts go back to the public for review before a final plan is recommended. The Press Democrat lays out the rest of the timeline. Consultants and city staff will sort through the feedback and draft alternatives over the winter and spring. A final draft is expected by summer and will go to the City Council. Design work starts only after the plan is adopted.

The plan is paid for. The park is not.

The funding so far explains why the timeline is long. The money in hand covers buying the land and planning the park. Building it will need new money.

Ag + Open Space says the matching funds came from foundations and individuals, including the Community Foundation of Sonoma County, the Saba Foundation and the Mead Foundation. The project's own page says more money is expected from public-agency grants and private fundraising. Hensel was clear with The Press Democrat about how long that will take:

"It's a long haul. We are going after grants and we already have some people interested in donating … but this is not going to get built in a year."

That quote is from The Press Democrat's September 28 report. Put the dates side by side and the gap is clear. The plan is due in summer 2027. Construction has no date yet.

Getting onto the land this fall

The project's partners want people out on the greenway so they get a feel for the land before weighing in, according to the Press Democrat. The best-documented way to do that is a guided walk led by volunteers. The next one is listed on the Southeast Greenway events page for Saturday, Nov. 14, from 10 a.m. to noon. It is an easy two-mile walk with a shuttle back to the start for anyone who doesn't want to walk the return. The walk is free, and registration is required. An earlier 2026 listing described the route as starting near Montgomery High School and ending just past Summerfield Road. The Nov. 14 listing doesn't give a route, so check when you register.

Volunteers have done more than lead walks. On July 25, Campaign volunteers and Sonoma Land Trust staff cleaned up the stretch from Franquette Avenue to Summerfield Road. Sonoma Land Trust has also held yoga, birdwatching and other activities on the property, and the Campaign plans to keep up monthly walks while the planning continues.

The order is worth noting. If you walk on Nov. 14, you'll have been to the Nov. 4 or 5 workshop first. If you want to see the land before giving your input, the survey is the place to add what you notice afterward. Updates and new walk dates are posted at SoutheastGreenway.org.

The Highway 12 extension took Caltrans twenty years to assemble and never got built. The park on the same land now has an owner, a planning firm, and two workshop dates on the calendar.

Mark Stornetta has spent more than four decades watching Sonoma County land change hands and change purpose, from vineyard blocks to protected open space. If a long public timeline like the Southeast Greenway's affects how you're thinking about property you own or are considering in east Santa Rosa, Mark Stornetta is glad to talk it through. Request a Confidential Consultation.