PORT ANGELES — Clallam County is working on a new agreement with Olympic National Park to build three segments of the Olympic Discovery Trail near Lake Crescent inside the park boundary.
The management agreement expands on a 2005 memorandum of understanding between the two entities by including the Spruce Railroad Trail on the north shore of Lake Crescent as part of the new trail.
“That wasn’t clear in the old agreement,” Clallam County Transportation Program Manager Rich James explained.
Construction of the three connected segments is scheduled for 2011.
Once the trail is built to National Park Service standards, the park will operate and maintain the trail within the park boundary.
The new segments begin west of Fairholme Hill and run from the east end of Camp David Jr. Road to the park boundary at Waterline Road.
It includes about 4 miles of existing Spruce Railroad Trail — and two historic railroad tunnels — between the Lyre River Bridge and the west end of the Spruce Railroad Trail.
The paved trail on the old Spruce Railroad grade will accommodate hikers, bicyclists, wheelchair users, horseback riders, in-line skaters and other nonmotorized uses.
In a few weeks
The county commissioners will vote on the agreement in the next few weeks.
Clallam County received a $999,000 grant from the state Recreation and Conservation Office to help the park restore the Spruce Railroad Trail.
The grant was matched by $1.2 million in federal transportation grants and parts of the county road fund.
Most of the match has already been used on a 6.4-mile section of paved trail west of the existing Spruce Railroad Trail. About 95 percent that work is finished, James said.
According to the proposed agreement, Clallam County and the National Park Service will share the planning, design and construction of the new segments to support the continued development of the trail.
“We’re very excited to enter into this partnership and this agreement,” Olympic National Park Deputy Superintendent Todd Suess said.
Eventually, the Olympic Discovery Trail will span 140 miles from Port Townsend to the Pacific Ocean at LaPush. About 60 miles of the trail is already finished.
12-mile portion
Clallam County is responsible for 12 miles of the 22-mile section between Port Angeles and Sequim.
The county also administers 30 miles of existing trail between Port Angeles and Lake Crescent, including the Elwha River crossing on the $19.7 million, double-deck bridge that opened last September.
An off-road spur trail — called the Adventure Route — will run from the Elwha River valley to Lake Crescent.
The Clallam County Chain Gang inmate work crew, with help from a team of volunteers, is almost finished building the Adventure Route.
County public works officials have been negotiating with Olympic National Park for about eight months on the revised management agreement for construction of the new trail segments.
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Reporter Rob Ollikainen can be reached at 360-417-3537 or at rob.ollikainen@peninsuladailynews.com.
