Old railroad trestle to get new life as Discovery Trail link
This railroad trestle, which is over a nameless creek off Bugge Road east of Sequim, is to become the next link in the Olympic Discovery Trail. A team of Peninsula Trail Coalition volunteers plans to lay a slab of concrete on the bridge, built circa 1914. -- Photo by Diane Urbani de la Paz/Peninsula Daily News
By Diane Urbani de la Paz, Peninsula Daily News
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The Olympic Discovery Trail, a bicycle-pedestrian-equestrian path that draws people out even on the wintriest days, is about to add another leg, thanks to a team of Peninsula Trail Coalition volunteers.
In January, coalition leader Chuck Preble will assemble about 12 unpaid workers - mostly retired from careers in construction - and lay a slab of concrete on a 90-plus-year-old wooden railroad trestle.
That 144-foot bridge, off Bugge Road east of Sequim, was probably built about 1914, said Rich James, Clallam County's transportation program manager.
It crosses a nameless creek near U.S. Highway 101.
Since volunteers will do the rehabilitation, it'll cost only about $13,000, James added.
Once the trestle is slabbed - Preble estimates it'll be done by spring - it will form another segment of Discovery Trail, bringing it a step closer to its eventual 100-mile reach from Port Townsend to the West End.
Halt within city
Inside Sequim's city limits, however, such trailblazing has come to a halt.
Earlier this year, Sequim residents and City Council members called for filling in a significant gap in the trail between Carrie Blake Park and Sequim Avenue.
The Blue Ribbon Task Force, a group of city officials and others charged with envisioning parks and trails around the city, recommended building the trail along relatively traffic-free Spruce Street.
But that project was removed from the 2008 budget because, Public Works Director James Bay said, the city couldn't afford it.
Liisa Fagerlund, a task force member, came to Monday's City Council meeting to ask city leaders to reconsider.
"When I saw that the budget had eliminated completion, I was very dismayed," she said.
Fagerlund asked what happened to some $400,000 in federal funds Sequim is slated to receive for transportation projects.
"We had the authority to select what we want to use the funds for," Bay replied.
He chose other street projects, which he'll propose to the council early next year: finishing Washington Harbor Road, installing a signal at Sequim Avenue and Fir Street and "the last one, which is very, very critical," extending Ninth Avenue to Hendrickson Road.
"That will relieve a ton of traffic," Bay said.
Of course, he added, it'll be the City Council's prerogative to approve or reject those plans.
James, meantime, is forging ahead on other trail fronts.
A trail segment from the Lower Elwha Road to the Elwha River bridge is under construction now, he said.
Next year, "we're going to do a project from the west end of the Spruce Railroad Trail [along Lake Crescent's shore] to the top of Fairholm hill."
Another trail section from Fairholm hill to Cooper Ranch Road is also funded and on 2008's construction calendar, James said.
When these links are finished, the Olympic Discovery Trail will stretch some 60 miles, in interrupted stretches between Port Townsend and the Lyre River west of Port Angeles.
For information abut the Olympic Discovery Trail, visit www.PeninsulaTrailCoalition.com.
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Sequim Editor Diane Urbani de la Paz can be reached at 360-681-2391 or diane.urbani@peninsuladailynews.com.
Last modified: December 12. 2007 9:00PM