PORT ANGELES — A pedestrian bridge is expected to span Dry Creek as part of the Olympic Discovery Trail by this time next year.
The construction of the bridge, estimated at nearly $760,000, is part of a plan approved unanimously by the City Council on Tuesday for development of a 4-mile segment of the trail from Marine Drive to the Elwha River. Bridge construction is set for spring 2010, said Mike Szatlocky, civil engineer for the city.
While the price tag for the bridge is about $750,000, the city’s contribution will be a small portion of that.
Szatlocky said the city, upon approval from the City Council on June 16, will contribute $70,000 from its general fund and $160,000 in city lodging tax revenue for the bridge construction. The rest of the funding will come from a $379,670 grant from the state Recreation and Conservation Office, $37,500 from the Lower Elwha Klallam tribe, and $50,000 from the Peninsula Trails Coalition, he said.
City Council members applauded the money the city is saving on the bridge construction.
“This meets my criteria for an appropriate expense of general funds,” said City Council member Larry Williams.
“I know the general fund is under close scrutiny and know how things are tight. It’s one of those projects being planned for a long time.”
Once developed, this segment of the trail will depart from Marine Drive near Hill Street to 10th Street and Milwaukee Drive by following city streets and public right of ways. The trail will then follow the railroad grade alignment along Milwaukee Drive, cross Dry Creek and extend to the Lower Elwha Road. From there, the trail will continue along the city-owned railroad grade to the east bank of the Elwha River.
These trail segments won’t be developed at once.
Szatlocky said the trail will be developed and upgraded around the availability of grant funds and construction in the area. The earliest construction is expected to begin toward the end of the summer. That work, which will primarily be done by the Peninsula Trails Coalition, involves resurfacing portions of the railroad grade between 10th and 18th streets on Milwaukee Drive with gravel, he said.
A trail head at 10th Street and Milwaukee Drive may also be made this year.
The Olympic Discovery Trail, which extends about 70 miles on the North Olympic Peninsula, will eventually connect Port Townsend with LaPush. Upon completion, the trail will extend about 125 miles.
Szatlocky said the plan approved by the council calls for a 30-year period for creation and upgrades of the trail, such as from gravel to pavement, but that doesn’t mean the project will take that long.
“So much depends on the economy and priorities,” Szatlocky said.
“The idea is not to get a plan that gets stuck on the shelf.”
The study for the trail plan approved by the council cost a total of $93,000, which includes a $73,000 contribution from the Recreation and Conservation Office.
The bridge will also carry power lines to the two water treatment plants being built by the National Park Service and an 8-inch sewer line for a sewer plant for the tribe underneath it. The water treatment and sewer plants are all part of the project to remove the two Elwha River dams.
In early May, Lakeside Industries finished paving the Olympic Discovery Trail from the Morse Creek bridge to where the trail meets the Strait of Juan de Fuca.
At the Tuesday meeting, the City Council also approved:
• An agreement with Clallam County for governance of the William Shore Memorial Pool District. The council appointed City Council members Dan Di Guilio and Cherie Kidd to the pool board of directors.
• New rules of procedure that allow council members to provide feedback during public comment.
• An agreement with Kenmore Air for the airline to use $10,000 in city lodging tax revenue for promoting air travel to Port Angeles and market the city as a tourist destination. The agreement says that Kenmore Air, which has said publicly that it may end flights to Port Angeles after next year, must sustain air service through Dec. 31.
• A resolution that says the city will work with the Port of Port Angeles to attract the Pacific research fleet of the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration. That can include paying for some facility upgrades and improvements the port would have to do if NOAA chooses Port Angeles.
• Declaring a 25-passenger trolley bus surplus. The city received the trolley from Clallam Transit in July 2007 but couldn’t find a use for it.
The City Council also authorized staff to:
• Applying for a U.S. Department of Energy grant that would study the effect of tidal power devices and other hydro-energy sources on organisms within Port Angeles Harbor, Sequim Bay and Morse Creek.
• Applying for funding from the U.S. Department of Commerce for two capital projects, improvements to the Coho ferry terminal totalling $9 million and a $220,000 study to identify an alternative cross-town route to U.S. Highway 101.
