PORT TOWNSEND –Olympic Discovery Trail supporters — pedestrians, bicyclists and equestrians — plan to connect Jefferson County with Clallam County’s trail system within six years.
Work on a 3.5-mile stretch from state Highway 20 to Discovery Bay Golf Course is also scheduled to begin this spring.
So said several county trail supporters who asked for and received support from Jefferson County commissioners on Monday.
“We have set as the highest priority in Jefferson County to get that connection going,” Chuck Preble, Peninsula Trails Coalition president, told the commissioners Monday morning.
Preble, who updated the commissioners on the county’s trail acquisition and construction status, was joined by Jan North Marts, Jefferson Trail Coalition facilitator; Larry Brown, Quimper Trails Coalition president; and Jeanne Koester, Buckhorn Range Chapter director for the Backcountry Horseman of Washington, based in Chimacum.
Three miles finished
Preble reported that of the 24 miles needed to connect Port Townsend west to the Jefferson-Clallam County line, three miles of what is also known as the Larry Scott Memorial Trail have been completed, and 3.5 miles more are in progress.
Right of way acquisition, including parking and horse-loading areas, has been completed to Discovery Bay Golf Course, formerly Chevy Chase Golf Course.
With Pat Rodgers, R-Brinnon, absent, Preble told County Commissioners David Sullivan, D-Cape George, and Phil Johnson, D-Port Townsend, that Peninsula Trails Coalition and Jefferson Trails Coalition have requested $1.5 million in federal transportation grants in 2005 to extend the trail further west to the foot of Discovery Bay.
Both U.S. Sen. Patty Murray, D-Seattle, and U.S. Rep. Norm Dicks, D-Bremerton, have voiced support for the trail.
Murray has supported the concept of an Olympic Discovery Trail Loop around the Olympic Peninsula.
The effort now under way would ultimately connect a 129-mile link from Port Townsend with LaPush.
Besides more than 30 miles completed in Clallam County, right of way for a stretch from Lake Crescent to Forks is expected to be secured this year.
