At the northwest corner of Woodward Park, the Lewis S. Eaton Trail runs into Highway 41 and stops. It is a 4-mile path that runs near Friant Road from the Hallowell River Center, and it ends at the freeway. On the other side of the underpass is River West: grassland, ponds, riparian woodland, old gravel-mining pits and fenced stormwater basins along the San Joaquin River. Homes on the bluffs border it to the south, and Spano Park, a small city park near Palm and Nees avenues, sits at its western end.
This month the City of Fresno is taking bids on the stretch that links those two places. Phase 1 of the River West Fresno Eaton Trail Extension went out on Oct. 22, a non-mandatory pre-bid meeting was set for Wednesday, Nov. 4, and bids are due Friday, Nov. 20, at 3 p.m. Phase 1 is the trail itself. It does not include the parking lots closest to most Northwest Fresno homes, and the reason is a neighborhood agreement from 2020.
Where the Pavement Stops Today
The extension adds about 2.4 miles running west from near Perrin Avenue and Highway 41 to Spano Park. As planned, it is a 22-foot-wide multipurpose corridor: a 12-foot paved surface plus an 8-foot hard natural surface for horses and bikes.
The piece that matters most for the current trail is small. A May addendum to the project's environmental report added roughly 320 feet of sidewalk and an accessible curb ramp under the Caltrans overpass at Perrin Avenue. Fresnoland reported that this short link is what physically connects the eastern and western halves of the trail across the freeway. Once it is built, the dead end at Woodward Park becomes a through route.
The extension is part of a much older plan. The San Joaquin River Conservancy's Parkway Master Plan, first approved in 1997 and updated in 2018, envisions a 22-mile recreational corridor from Friant Dam to Highway 99. River West has been public land since the Conservancy bought it in 2003, and the first conceptual plans for access there were drawn up in 2004.
What the Bid Packet Buys
The full River West build has three trailhead parking lots: one at Perrin, one on Riverview Drive and one at the end of North Palm Avenue, plus a bus turnaround. The engineer's estimates filed with the City Council divide that work into two phases.
| Phase 1, out to bid now | Phase 2 | |
|---|---|---|
| Estimated cost | About $13.7 million | About $9.6 million |
| Trail | 2.4-mile multipurpose extension | None |
| Vehicle parking | Perrin Avenue lot | Palm Avenue and Riverview Drive lots |
| Other access | Pedestrian and bicycle stairway and ramp at Spano Park | Bus turnaround |
| Amenities | Two-vault restroom, lighting, equestrian amenities, picnic areas, landscaping, gates, signage | Second two-vault restroom and other trail amenities |
The two phases come to about $23.3 million in total. The bid packet also covers a restroom at the Woodward West access and an access stairway and ramp at the Palm Avenue end. In practice, the western end of Phase 1 is a way down from the bluff on foot or by bike, not a parking lot.
The Perrin Avenue lot is the one Phase 1 builds, and it is the hardest one to reach from Fresno by car. The Fresno Bee reported that drivers reach it by heading north on Highway 41 into Madera County, taking the first exit and turning south on Cobb Ranch Boulevard. So the first new lot on Fresno's newest stretch of river trail is reached through another county.
Why the Neighborhood Lots Move Together
The Phase 2 lots are paired because of a dispute settled six years ago. Homeowners in The Bluffs, the neighborhood above River West, sued the Conservancy in 2019 over the planned access point on Riverview Drive, which is a street in their community. The Fresno Bee reported that in 2020 the homeowners agreed to the Riverview Drive access point as long as the Conservancy also builds one at Palm and Nees avenues.
City Councilmember Mike Karbassi, whose district runs along the river, told the Bee that those two access points must be built at the same time, and that they were not yet fully funded as of February. He also said that finishing the core project could help the Conservancy secure money for later work.
That explains why the project is split the way it is. Riverview Drive and Palm Avenue are the two access points closest to Northwest Fresno streets, and the 2020 agreement ties them together. Because neither can be built without the other, both moved into Phase 2. Phase 1 is everything that can go ahead without them: the trail, the link under the freeway, the stairway at Spano Park and the lot on the Madera County side.
A Start Date That Keeps Moving Back
Public forecasts for this stretch have been revised several times this year.
- November 2017. The Conservancy certifies the project's environmental impact report, beginning nearly a decade of work by the city and the Conservancy.
- February 2026. At an event with Karbassi and U.S. Rep. Jim Costa, who secured $2 million for river access, Conservancy executive officer Kari Daniska tells the Bee the project "is scheduled to go to construction this fall." Karbassi says construction could take 18 months.
- May 7, 2026. The City Council authorizes an application for $5,115,000 in Proposition 4 climate-bond money through the Conservancy. The staff report says project funds will not be spent before the Conservancy allocates them and issues a formal Notice to Proceed.
- Mid-May 2026. Ahead of the Conservancy board's vote, Fresnoland quoted Daniska on the next step:
"If this funding is awarded on Wednesday, the proposed timeline is to start construction in spring 2027."
- October 2026. The city posts a related request for engineering services on Oct. 7, due Oct. 23, then posts the Phase 1 construction bid on Oct. 22.
- Nov. 20, 2026. Phase 1 bids are due.
Officials described a fall 2026 start in February, but a project still taking bids on Nov. 20 is still in procurement. The most recent public forecast is the spring 2027 start from May, and Karbassi's 18-month construction estimate would begin from whenever work actually starts.
Reaching the River This Month
For now, the existing trail and Woodward Park are where a river walk in Northwest Fresno begins. The city lists Woodward Park as open daily from 6 a.m. to 10 p.m. Vehicle entry costs $5, or $3 with a senior driver or passenger, and $7 on holidays. Qualifying disabled-person placards, active-duty military identification and Gold Star plates are exempt. The trail still ends at the park's northwest corner by Highway 41. To the west, Spano Park sits on the bluff near Palm and Nees, with picnic tables, a lawn and views toward the Sierra Nevada, overlooking the land the extension will cross.
The river behind Woodward Park has been changing in other ways too, which we wrote about in Northwest Fresno Is Running on Two Different Clocks Right Now. The River West bid is the next step on that slower timeline. The next fixed date is Nov. 20, when the bids for the trail are due.
If you live near the bluffs and want to talk through how the trail plans might affect your street, or you just want a local read on what's coming to the river, Joe Sciarrone is glad to have that conversation. More on the area is on our Northwest Fresno neighborhood page, and when you're ready, we can begin your next chapter together.