PORT TOWNSEND — This year’s state budget includes funding for a study to determine the best option for adding 6 miles onto the 8-mile Larry Scott Trail to connect it with the Olympic Discovery Trail’s Discovery Bay trailhead.
“Our vision has always been to create world-class trails for nonmotorized use from Port Townsend to the ocean,” said Jeff Selby, the Jefferson County vice president of the Peninsula Trails Coalition.
“This will provide an economic boost to the area and draw people from other states and all parts of the country.”
Selby said the cost of building the trail is undetermined but estimated that building trails can cost about $500,000 per mile.
Considering the length of the trail and the terrain, it could cost between $4 million and $6 million to finish the project.
Taking it one step at a time, Selby has for several months attempted to fund the feasibility study, which he estimates as costing between $25,000 and $75,000.
The budget allocation is specifically for the study and caps at $1 million, considerably more than what’s needed, and Selby hopes the remaining funds can be used for design purposes.
The Jefferson County commissioners must accept the funds, which Selby said will happen at an as-yet-unscheduled meeting between state Recreation and Conservation Office representatives and the commissioners.
Once the money is received, the next step will be to hire a consulting firm to determine the most preferred alignment, considering terrain, scenic value, cost and other factors, Selby said.
“Expenditure of any funds beyond the cost of the initial route study itself must be specifically authorized by the Jefferson County commissioners who will make a determination as to how to proceed based on the results of the chosen consultant’s investigation and report,” Selby said.
The study could take just a few days, but recruiting a contractor and approving the process could take up to four months, he said.
Currently, the Larry Scott Trail begins in the Boat Haven and ends at Milo Curry Road near Four Corners.
The new route would take riders around the Eaglemount area, which would avoid the dangerous section of state Highway 20 between Four Corners Road and Discovery Bay.
Selby said the construction cost depends on whether there are any old logging roads that can become part of the trail and how much land owners would ask for rights of way.
Selby has said the coalition would “only deal with willing sellers” for the land and that eminent domain would not be used for the land purchase.
While the exact route is yet to be determined, the extension would have three segments: from Four Corners to Anderson Lake, from that point to Eaglemount Road and then up into the tip of Discovery Bay.
At that point, it would connect with a trail in progress that will parallel and in some areas join U.S. Highway 101, eventually picking up the existing portion of the Olympic Discovery Trail between Blyn and Port Angeles.
The most challenging segment in extending the trail is crossing state Highway 20, Selby said, because construction of either a bridge or a tunnel would be required.
Selby said he expects the trail’s construction would begin with its third segment because that path over the highway is the most critical.
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Jefferson County Editor Charlie Bermant can be reached at 360-385-2335 or cbermant@peninsuladailynews.com.
