Puyallup River to Foothills Link Ctill ‘high priority’ with City
 It is great to see the Bike/Ped Path open across the new Narrows Bridge. It is still our hope to put on a ride in the Spring that would go both ways across the bridge with elected officials invited to participate. A good time might be Bike to Work day in May or during the CarLESS Commute in June.
Beth Glynn and others at the Health Department have submitted a grant request to update the 1996 Tacoma Non-motorized Plan. I hope to get the Health Department, Metro Parks, Tacoma Wheelmen, City of Tacoma, Foothills Rails-to-Trails Coalition and others involved in working together on the CarLESS Commute in 2008--its 16th year. Just about everybody now recognizes the need for Healthy Living, Active Living and other methods to reduce our environmental impact and our traffic congestion problems. As Dixie Gatchell and the National Rails-to-Trails Conservancy say, “Burn calories, not carbon.”
Out on the Foothills Trail, yellow safety envelopes have been painted around Pierce County’s bollards. The plan is to remove the two outer bollards to a spot just off the pavement in most places, leaving a much safer path to travel. The other communities out there are moving in the same direction.
The missing link between the Puyallup River Walk and the Foothills Trail hasbeen delayed due to some personnel moving on to other jobs, but the link remains a high priority with the City of Puyallup. Hopefully, the work will occur next spring, but we will see.
I’m still waiting to see construction start in Lower Burnett to build the big bridge abutments that will carry the bike path from So. Prairie to Buckley. The Coalition is trying to open up the dirt trail between Wilkeson and Carbonado by this spring. In Buckley, Mayor Pat Johnson is trying to get a commitment to provide the trail parallel to the flume that carries water to Lake Tapps from the White River.
She is also working with King County to get Buckley and Enumclaw connected across the White In Milton, I have seen the contractors working on the Interurban Trail. I am confident the paved trail through Milton should be available by spring time. Hopefully, we can get the trail extended through Edgewood and Fife in the near future. The Milton Interurban Trail has been a great place to walk the dog for an hour or so.
In Tacoma, I have been in contact with Diane Wiatr and Eric Anderson, the City Manager, regarding their desire to move forward on streetcar, bike travel, pedestrian travel and parking issues. Carla Gramlich continues to bird-dog this issue, and it seems like the City has a sincere desire to complete the bike lanes contemplated in their 1996 plan.
In Thurston County, I continue to receive positive reports on the Chehalis Western Trail and the much-improved bollard situation. Everyone says it is so much easier and enjoyable to use the trail. Some neighbors are concerned that cyclists have been darting out into the crossing traffic. Please be careful and remember that trails like this are far more dangerous than bike lanes due to these crossing situations.
Carla and I attended an open house for the Sounder Train moving up through the Nalley Valley. The proposed trail from South Tacoma Way to the University of Washington and the Thea Foss Waterway seems to be missing due to a large retaining wall that is apparently required to accommodate the train. Hopefully, the City is still pursuing the trail segment from the University down to the Thea Foss. This is a critical connection, because So. Tacoma Way is the northern end of the Water Ditch Trail which potentially extends down Flett and Chambers Creeks to the park and golf course on Puget Sound— Editor
The draft plan is also out for Point Defiance Park and should be commented on, particularly with regard to bike travel. County Councilmen Calvin Goings and Tim Farrell hosted a meeting at Snake Lake to receive input on the idea of having a Transfer of Development Rights program in Pierce County. Almost 150 people showed up to support this idea. Several people including us reminded them that obtaining our non-motorized trail rights-of-way in a more timely manner is an important issue. Ralph Wessels and I will have attended a meeting on the Statewide Non-motorized Plan by the time you get this newsletter.
Please remember that your help is needed in your local community. Right now, Lakewood is engaged in developing a non-motorized plan, and there has been very little input form the community.
- Bob Myrick |
