The Contra Costa Canal Trail will take you from Martinez through Pleasant Hill, all the way down to Lime Ridge Open Space and beyond.
At dusk on any given evening, families ride bikes together, runners pant along the pavement and dog walkers skirt the chain-link fence following the green ribbon of water.
The trail passes residential areas, a school and a trailer park before reaching Lime Ridge, crossing some major roads along the way — including Concord Boulevard, Clayton Road and Cowell Road.
In addition to dealing with heavy traffic flow while crossing these intersections, trail users also pass through isolated areas, sometimes in solitude — perhaps making them vulnerable to crime. In 2003, an Antioch woman was murdered on the trail, and last year a woman was assaulted near Clayton Road. But are such incidents the exception, rather than the rule?
Do you use the Contra Costa Canal Trail through Concord? Do you feel safe from traffic and crime? Share your experience in the comments below.
