PORT ANGELES — Clallam County plans to build a wheelchair-accessible trailhead on the north shore of Lake Crescent to provide access to a 6.5-mile segment of the Olympic Discovery Trail that the county built in 2009.
The county has been working with Olympic National Park, which owns the land around the lake, to improve the north shore day use area off Camp David Jr. Road this fall.
County commissioners will consider approving the plan set for the small works project on Tuesday, during their regular meeting, which will begin at 10 a.m. in Room 160 at the Clallam County Courthouse, 223 E. Fourth St., Port Angeles.
“We’re going to put it out under our own bid process, the small works bid process, where we just send the plan set out to all the (contractors) that are on our list that are qualified to do the work,” County Transportation Program Manager Rich James told commissioners last week.
The small parking lot at the day-use area will be outfitted with wheel stops, and the area around the vault toilet will be paved.
A new pullout with paved off-loading space will be added for Americans with Disabilities Act accessibility.
The $73,000 project is funded by a state Recreation and Conservation Office grant with a match from the county road fund.
Clallam County and Olympic National Park have agreed to work cooperatively on improvements to the four-mile Spruce Railroad Trail east of the new trailhead.
The Spruce Railroad Trail will link 60 miles of existing Olympic Discovery Trail east of the lake with 16 miles of existing trail to the west.
It will also give bicyclists an alternative to riding along U.S. Highway 101 to get past the lake.
Once completed, the 140-mile Olympic Discovery Trail will connect Port Townsend to LaPush.
Reporter Rob Ollikainen can be reached at 360-452-2345, ext. 5072, or at rollikainen@peninsuladailynews.com.
