Blackie's Pasture's New Beaches Won't Be Finished When the Crews Leave

Construction crews from Goodfellow Bros. have been working on the two small beaches at Blackie's Pasture since early September. The Town of Tiburon posted "Greenwood Beach Restoration Project Begins This Week" on August 31, 2026. Construction is expected to wrap up by Nov. 20, about five weeks from now. That's the expected end of construction, but the Marin IJ reports that establishment periods, monitoring and maintenance will continue after it. The project was designed so that Richardson Bay does part of the work. Waves are supposed to spread the new sediment along the shore and form a natural beach profile.

What's going into Greenwood and Brunini beaches

On Aug. 19, the Tiburon Town Council voted 3-0 to approve a $468,983 contract with Livermore-based Goodfellow Bros., according to the Marin Independent Journal. The cost will be fully reimbursed from a $1.5 million grant the town received from the California State Coastal Conservancy in 2024. The Ark reported that the council also let the town manager approve change orders of up to 15%, or $70,347, which sets the maximum at $539,330.

The work covers 1.4 acres along Richardson Bay. Here's what the crews are doing, based on the reporting from both papers:

• Grading back the scarp. This is the steep face where waves have cut into the beach.
• Removing old asphalt and debris from the shoreline.
• Placing coarse beach sediment. Sand and gravel go along the shore so the waves can spread them out.
• Installing two rock sills at Brunini Beach and a log backstop at Greenwood Beach.
• Building cobble salt-marsh drift sills. These are low ridges meant to hold sediment in place while still letting it move naturally.
• Planting native vegetation across the beach, wetland and transitional habitat zones.

The project drawing that ran in The Ark shows how this should look when it's done. There's a tan beachface and backshore, a green band of cobble-armored salt marsh and drift sills, and edges where plants are expected to grow in. The design doesn't use any riprap or seawall. The Marin IJ describes the project as a test of whether a softer, more natural approach can hold back shoreline erosion.

The crew finishes in November, and the water takes over

The project's engineer explained how the beach is supposed to form. David Eshoo, engineering manager for the town's Public Works Department, described it to The Ark:

"We're installing a living shoreline, meaning that the material that's being installed here at this beach, the wave action will pull the material out and push it back in so that it doesn't erode any of the areas along Blackie's Pasture."

That's the reason the Nov. 20 date doesn't mean "done." The Marin IJ reported that once construction ends there will be more establishment periods, plus monitoring and maintenance. Eshoo also said the project is a pilot, and the town may use the same approach on other parts of its shoreline. After construction ends, wave action is supposed to keep moving the sediment until the beach reaches its natural profile.

Some of the project is already in place. The town scheduled the drift-sill work for March 23 to 26, 2026. Its notice warned of soil and rock deliveries, a small restricted work zone on the beach and backshore, and brief truck trips through the park. The Marin IJ said that first phase mainly installed the drift sills and brought in sediment. Audubon, which runs the sanctuary next door, made a simple request about that earlier work. Visitors shouldn't remove rocks or cobbles, and they shouldn't walk on the planted drift sill. Those cobbles help the system work, so the same request still matters while the rest of the beach goes in around them.

Why this winter is the test

The new beaches will take their first winter of waves during the busiest season on Richardson Bay. Since Oct. 1, the waters of the Richardson Bay Audubon Center & Sanctuary have been closed to boats and in-water activities, including kayaking and paddleboarding. The closure runs through March 31 and gives shelter to migrating waterbirds. Audubon notes that the sanctuary's shorebirds and other wildlife can be seen from the historic Richardson Bay Rail Trail right next to it. Audubon describes the 900-acre sanctuary as "ground zero for wintering waterbirds and Pacific herring in the San Francisco Bay."

Audubon's seasonal bird list for Richardson Bay includes these October and November arrivals:

• Waterfowl: Bufflehead, Canvasback, Green-winged Teal, Common Goldeneye
• Shorebirds: Dunlin, Least Sandpiper, Long-billed Dowitcher, Western Sandpiper

That list describes the season, not a log of current sightings. Still, it lines up with the beach calendar. The months when the new sand and gravel are first shaped by waves are the same months these birds are on the water off Blackie's. The restored beach, wetland and transitional habitat is being built for exactly this stretch of shoreline.

The Audubon Center sits next door at 376 Greenwood Beach Road. It has 10.5 acres of trails and gardens, including a half-mile hillside path through oak woodland. The grounds are described as open year-round, and the center is generally open Monday through Friday. Pets aren't allowed.

Getting to the pasture while two projects overlap

The beach work isn't the only construction near Blackie's this fall. A Caltrans advisory dated Sept. 16 said curb ramp and sidewalk work on SR-131, which is Tiburon Boulevard, could begin as early as Monday, Sept. 21. Crews would start at the US-101 interchange and move east. The advisory allows intermittent one-way traffic control on weekdays from 7 a.m. to 5 p.m. and warns that pedestrian detours may be needed. It lists 28 curb ramps for phase one, notes that some bus stops may be affected, and schedules paving for spring 2027. The Caltrans project page says phase one runs from near US-101 to the Tiburon Boulevard and Main Street intersection, and targets completion in winter 2027. It also shows a temporary two-way multiuse path on the inbound side between Strawberry Drive and Blackfield Drive. According to The Ark, the permanent path and the bike lanes within town limits were moved to a second phase targeted for early 2029. None of the Caltrans notices mention a closure of the Blackie's parking lot or the shoreline trail. Weekday traffic control on the boulevard is the main thing to expect on the drive in.

Inside the pasture, Eshoo told the Marin IJ that "there will also be construction equipment and trucks traveling through portions of Blackie's Pasture to access the work area." He added that "the Town's intent is to maintain public access to as much of Blackie's Pasture and the surrounding trail system as practical, while restricting access to the active construction and staging areas." The beach construction areas themselves are closed while the work goes on.

The town defines the Old Rail Trail as the paved path from Blackie's Pasture Road to Cove Road and Tiburon Boulevard. A few rules apply whether or not there's construction:

• Dogs have to be on a short leash along the whole Old Rail Trail, at McKegney Green and at South Knoll Park.
• Walkers can bring no more than three dogs on any Town Open Space trail.
• Dogs aren't allowed at the Audubon Center next door.

At the trailhead, the bronze of Blackie still stands guard. Blackie was a swaybacked former cavalry and rodeo horse who spent 28 years in the pasture. The life-size statue by Albert Guibara was given by the family of Gordon Strawbridge, Tiburon's first mayor, and went up in June 1995. If you want coffee at the other end of the walk, Paradise Coffee opened in late April as a trailer at 1775 Tiburon Blvd., near the Point Tiburon Plaza bus stop and the flower-shop gazebo. It serves coffee and grab-and-go food, including sandwiches, burritos and waffles.

The fall calendar at Blackie's

So far, the town hasn't published a progress report since construction started. Treat the Nov. 20 finish as an estimate, and use the closure signs at the pasture as the most current guide to what's open.

The team at Christina & Karla - Home In Marin follows projects like the Greenwood Beach restoration because they shape daily life on the peninsula, from the morning walk to the drive down Tiburon Boulevard. If you live near the Old Rail Trail and want to know how the waterfront around you is changing, or what your home is worth today, reach out and request your free home valuation.