PORT ANGELES — A crushed rock surface for the Spruce Railroad Trail is the preferred alternative in a new environmental assessment for the path that will become part of the Olympic Discovery Trail on the north shore of Lake Crescent.
The assessment released Wednesday by the National Park Service suggests a 3.5-mile-long, 10.5-foot-wide “firm and stable, non-asphalt” surface along the banks of one of Olympic National Park’s signature destinations.
The 231-page document is available for public review at http://tinyurl.com/SRRT-Olympic.
A 30-day public comment period on the new environmental assessment began Thursday.
Public meet Thursday
A public meeting on the park’s plan will be held at 6 p.m. Thursday at the Port Angeles Senior Center, 328 E. Seventh St., Port Angeles.
The new document supersedes a controversial environmental assessment from last year.
“This project illustrates the value of public input,” Olympic National Park Acting Superintendent Todd Suess said in a statement.
“Important issues were raised during last year’s public comment period, particularly around accessibility, safety and visitor experience. The plan has been reworked and is stronger as a result of the public comments.”
Preferred alternative
The preferred alternative calls for the existing Spruce Railroad Trail to be made accessible to pedestrians, equestrians, bicyclists and people traveling in wheelchairs along its entire length.
Both historic railroad tunnels would be restored and incorporated into the trail.
Clallam County, which is building out the Olympic Discovery Trail, envisions a paved, wheelchair-assessable trail from Port Townsend to LaPush, using the Spruce Railroad Trail to bypass U.S. Highway 101 at Lake Crescent.
The Spruce Railroad Trail connects the Lyre River headwaters to a 6.5-mile segment of the Olympic Discovery Trail that Clallam County built above Camp David Jr. Road in 2009.
“The county does not accept the new EA argument that a crushed rock surface at Lake Crescent can be firm and stable,” Clallam County Transportation program manager Rich James said in a statement.
James questioned whether a gravel trail would meet Americans With Disabilities Act requirements with grades between 5 percent and 8 percent in one segment, a 60-inch annual rainfall and 1 inch of annual tree leaf fall.
James said a crushed rock surface with equestrian use is “extremely difficult to maintain free of leaf-based organic muck with mechanized equipment.”
Crushed rock surface dismissed last year
Furthermore, the park dismissed consideration of a crushed rock surface last year because it failed to meet ADA requirements.
“What has changed since the earlier version of the EA that makes this surface firm and stable now?” James said.
Suess said the new preferred alternative “would establish an accessible, multipurpose trail in one of the park’s most popular destinations, while still protecting the unique and nationally significant historic and natural values of Lake Crescent and the Spruce Railroad.”
James countered that few road and touring bicyclists could use the trail because it “would be unsafe to operate narrow-tired bicycles on such a surface, and the grit thrown up into expensive wheels, gears and bottom brackets would expose the bicycle owners to costly repairs or breakdowns.”
In a related matter, James said the county is “very disturbed” that the new plan removes the 1.5-mile segment of unimproved Spruce Railroad grade west of the top of Fairholm Hill.
“It is not known why the park would drop this section of trail from the EA since it has been fully surveyed, designed, and all of the impacts of constructing this segment are known,” James said.
“This unjustified route deletion creates a gap in the trail.
“Its deletion violates the language of the Lake Crescent Management Plan and the general plan as well as the signed 2010 cooperative management agreement the county has with Olympic National Park.”
Puzzled by deletion
Clallam County Public Works Administrative Director Bob Martin added: “I am puzzled and dismayed that the ONP now appears to be recommending a gravel surface” for the lakeshore trail and “proposes ending the trail a mile and a half short of connecting with the ODT and the western ONP boundary as previously proposed.”
Martin said a gravel surface would be unusable for a majority of users for which the trail is intended and “completely ignores the vast majority of public comment the ONP received on the previous environmental assessment.”
Last year, the park considered plans to build the Spruce Railroad Trail 6 feet wide to preserve the original railroad ballast and with a portion of the trial having an 18 percent grade, which is too steep for wheelchairs and many bicyclists.
That prompted opposition from Clallam County commissioners, the Peninsula Trails Coalition and the Port Angeles City Council.
Grade modifications
James said the county is pleased that the new assessment modifies the steep grades.
“The county is also pleased to see the new EA preferred alternative is 10.5 to 11 feet wide across the top of grade, which is close to the county’s preferred alternative [12 feet],” James said.
The county proposes an 8-foot-wide paved surface for wheelchairs and bicyclists and a 3.5-foot-wide crushed rock surface for equestrians and hikers.
Comments on the current environmental assessment can be submitted through June 8 at the National Park Service Planning, Environment and Public Comment website, www.parkplanning.nps.gov.
They also can be submitted in writing to: Superintendent — SRRT EA, Olympic National Park, 600 E. Park Ave., Port Angeles, WA, 98362.
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Reporter Rob Ollikainen can be reached at 360-452-2345, ext. 5072, or at rob.ollikainen@peninsuladailynews.com.