PORT TOWNSEND — The Jefferson County commissioners have accepted a donation from the Peninsula Trails Coalition to be used on the Discovery Bay segment of the Olympic Discovery Trail.
The donation of $10,000 will go toward helping the county pay for the first section of the trail segment, a three-quarter-mile stretch from Salmon Creek to Old Gardiner Road, along U.S. Highway 101.
Construction started on the trail segment in mid-May after the commissioners approved a $987,654 bid from Interwest Construction Inc. of Burlington.
Because the trail section is mostly funded by state and federal grants, the Peninsula Trails Coalition also asked that the donation go toward both construction and continued maintenance of the trail.
According to the agenda request from Monte Reinders, Public Works director and county engineer, the Peninsula Trails Coalition has been a driving force behind the Olympic Discovery Trail project.
The coalition is a nonprofit that is active in both Jefferson and Clallam counties and has been promoting the trail since 1988.
Along with its donation, the coalition assisted in securing more than $55,000 in grants to help fund this section of the trail.
The project is mostly funded by federal and state grants including a Recreational Resource Grant and an Aquatic Lands Enhancement Grant from the state Recreation and Conservation Office.
The Recreation and Conservation Office has also helped fund a number of trail projects in Clallam County.
The project also is funded through the Federal Transportation Enhancement Fund.
Construction of the first section of the trail segment is well underway.
The first section was expected to be the most time consuming because there was vegetation to move and reinforced earth retaining walls that needed to be built.
The second stretch of the project is expected to be easier because it runs along an old railroad grade, which is already a flat surface with little vegetation.
The two three-quarter mile sections near south Discovery Bay will help bring the Olympic Discovery Trail one step closer to connecting the Larry Scott Trail, which leads into Port Townsend.
There is still another three-quarter-mile gap between the Olympic Discovery Trail and the Larry Scott Trail and currently no proposed timeline to close that gap.
Once the Olympic Discovery Trail is completed, it will provide a 126-mile non-motorized route from Port Townsend to the Pacific Coast.
The trail also is part of a larger system, the Pacific Northwest Trail, which is a congressionally designated national scenic trail that stretches from Montana to the Pacific Ocean.
Maps and more information on the trail can be found at http://olympicdiscoverytrail.com/trail_maps.html.
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Jefferson County Editor/Reporter Cydney McFarland can be reached at 360-385-2335, ext. 55052, or at cmcfarland@peninsuladailynews.com.
