PORT ANGELES — Construction of the Spruce Railroad Trail will resume after Labor Day near Devil Point on the north shore of Lake Crescent.
Clallam County commissioners Tuesday approved a $500,000 funds transfer agreement with the Western Federal Lands Highway Division to allow the county to go out to bid on a now-$1.48 million project.
The work includes the restoration of the century-old McFee Tunnel and a half-mile extension of a rebuilt and widened trail that begins from the Lyre River trailhead.
“We’ll put it out to bid hopefully in the next month or so,” Assistant County Engineer Joe Donisi told commissioners last week.
Commissioners Mike Chapman and Mark Ozias voted Tuesday to approve the agreement.
Commissioner Bill Peach was absent because he was serving with the state Board of Natural Resources in Olympia. He said he backed the agreement when it was discussed May 31.
Safety enhancements
The transfer agreement moves county road funds to pay for safety enhancements for the tunnel’s interior and a larger parking area.
County officials expect to recover the $500,000 from other federal sources later this year.
Clallam County is working with the National Park Service on a multi-year effort to pave and widen the 4-mile Spruce Railroad Trail within Olympic National Park.
The new trail will be wheelchair-accessible and provide bicyclists and other non-motorized users with a safe and scenic alternative to the hazards of U.S. Highway 101 on the south side of the lake.
Once completed around 2019, the Spruce Railroad Trail will serve as a key link in the Olympic Discovery Trail system.
Crews last year rebuilt a 0.6-mile trail segment from the Lyre River trailhead to the old railroad grade on the shore of the lake.
Segment C
Construction on the next section — segment C — is slated to begin in September.
“There’s a half-a-mile trail that has to be restored to get to the tunnel,” county Transportation Program Manager Rich James told commissioners last week.
“They would kind of attack that work first.”
Material that nearly covers the north entrance to the 400-foot-long McFee Tunnel will be used to raise the base height of the 11-foot-wide Spruce Railroad Trail.
The entire length of the tunnel arch will be reinforced to prevent rockfall and reduce maintenance costs.
The original plan was to shore up the first 30 to 40 feet near the entrances.
“The park decided it would be safer if we lined the entire tunnel,” James said.
“If somebody gets hit by a rock that big, it would be a bad situation. And although it happens only very occasionally, you don’t want to be that one person that it happens to.”
Tunnel restoration work is expected to extend into the winter.
The new Spruce Railroad Trail will provide a detour behind Devil’s Punchbowl.
The dirt trail leading to the punchbowl and the footbridge at the popular swimming hole will remain.
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Reporter Rob Ollikainen can be reached at 360-452-2345, ext. 56450, or at rollikainen@peninsuladailynews.com.
