OLYMPIC NATIONAL PARK — A portion of the Spruce Railroad Trail will be closed beginning today, for the fourth phase of improvements.
The trail will be closed from the Lyre River trailhead to about a quarter mile east of Devil’s Punchbowl, said Barb Maynes, Olympic National Park spokeswoman.
The $692,326 project, which will improve another 1,800 feet of the trail for universal accessibility, is expected to be completed by the end of October.
The remainder of the trail between the Camp David Jr. Road trailhead and Devil’s Punchbowl will continue to be open during construction.
Port Angeles company 2 Grade LLC has been contracted for this phase of work.
The company will build an 8-foot-wide trail with an adjacent 3-foot-wide gravel shoulder.
Part of the trail will follow the existing trail, while another portion will be built below it to provide slopes and grades consistent with universal accessibility.
This phase is part of a multi-year collaborative project to establish the entire 9.5-mile length of the trail as a universally accessible, multi-purpose trail to be shared by hikers, bicyclists, equestrians and people traveling in wheelchairs.
Once completed in 2018 or 2019, the trail will become part of the 140-mile Olympic Discovery Trail, which will eventually span the North Olympic Peninsula from Port Townsend to LaPush.
“When finished, this project will provide nearly 10 miles of accessible trail along the beautiful north shore of Lake Crescent,” said park Superintendent Sarah Creachbaum.
“I deeply appreciate our collaboration with Clallam County and the Federal Highway Administration, as well as the dedicated work of our Olympic National Park staff.”
Clallam County and Olympic National Park are jointly funding the project.
Clallam County has secured $600,000 in federal funds for the trail segment and has committed $90,000 from its own road fund.
Federal Highway Administration staff will provide construction management and general contract oversight.
The Spruce Railroad Trail follows the historic railroad grade of the Spruce Railroad, built in 1918 and abandoned in 1951.
Construction of an accessible trail in the Lake Crescent area was addressed in both the 1998 Lake Crescent Management Plan and the 2008 Olympic National Park General Management Plan.
Planning for current improvements to the trail began in 2010 when initial public input for the project was gathered by park staff.
A finding of no significant impact for the 2012 Spruce Railroad Trail Environmental Assessment was released in fall 2012.
The first 1,300 feet of the Spruce Railroad Trail trail was built last year.
Next year, Clallam County will widen the west end of the trail to the first of two historic railroad tunnels.
The tunnels will be restored to serve bicyclists, hikers, wheelchair users, equestrians and other trail users who will use the Spruce Railroad Trail to bypass U.S. Highway 101.
Future work has received funding from the state Legislature, which allocated a $460,000 grant to retrofit the closed McFee Tunnel.
