Northern San Luis Obispo County Coastal Trail Master Plan

Northern San Luis Obispo County Coastal Trail Master Plan
Segment 4-3: Fiscalini Ranch Preserve to Fiscalini Creek (1.0 mile)
Photos
Existing coastal access from Harvey Street, Cambria.
culvert.
Description
Ownership: San Luis Obispo County, Cambria Community Services District, Caltrans
A large single family residential district on winding streets in rolling wooded terrain exists between Fiscalini
Ranch Preserve and Highway 1 to the east. These are rural residential streets without sidewalks, curbs or
gutters. They generally have light traffic and low speeds. Ardath Drive serves as a main collector street, though
it is not significantly wider or straighter. Figure 4-48 illustrates the recommendations for Segment 4-3. Three
options could provide pedestrian and local bicycle connections through this area of southern Cambria.
Through cyclists should stay on Highway 1 on this segment, which has 8 foot shoulders in good condition.
The most direct route would exit Fiscalini Ranch Preserve on Marlborough Lane and use Drake Street and
Ardath Drive to return to Highway 1. However, Ardath Drive experiences higher traffic volumes and higher
speeds, though the posted speed limit is 30 mph. Ardath Drive also has blind curves and dips and rises with no
shoulders along some curves, thus placing pedestrians in the travelway. An alternative scenic route follows
Sherwood Drive, passing several beach access points on the way to Lampton Cliffs County Park, where there
is a small parking area. This alternative follows Randall Drive, but would require an easement across mostly
undeveloped private property and development of a path to connect through Strawberry Canyon Park. Kay
Street, Bradford Road, Pierce Avenue, and Ardath Drive could be used to return to Highway 1, or a network of
short connecting streets to the east could be used to reach Ardath nearer its signalized intersection with
Highway 1. These streets also have very low traffic volumes and lack sidewalks.
A third alternative would return to Highway 1 further north by creating a new multi-use path out of Fiscalini
Ranch Preserve, extending south along Highway 1 to at least Burton Drive, as discussed under Segment 4-2.
Wide shoulders currently exist on Highway 1, but the steep terrain beyond the shoulder would necessitate
significant grading and potentially retaining walls to install a sidepath on the west side. Further south
Fiscalini Creek is adjacent to the west side of the highway, and increases constraints on the development of a
4-82
The highway crosses Fiscalini Creek on a large