Trails Tour Excites Evan!

Yesterday I spent most of my day touring regional trails projects, from the Red Electric Trail to Fanno Creek Trail and the Tualatin River Bicycle and Pedestrian Bridge. It’s exciting — and a reminder that we need to pass Metro Measure 26-80 and build more trails.

In a tour organized by Metro’s Mel Huie, and parts were described by various folks including Portland Parks’ Gregg Everhart. Gregg talked about the Red Electric Trail, a trail effort that generally follows the historic route of the Red Electric train towards Hillsboro (it ran on 4th to Barbur, then along Bertha). The Red Electric Trail would connect the Willamette River to the western suburbs, and Fanno Creek Trail. It will take significant time and money to complete, with challenges such as a signfiicant slope through George Himes Park, but Parks is committed to making it happen. The eventual trail will mix on-street paths with off-street trails, and the proposal is to connect Willamette Park to the Portland Golf Club.

We also looked at a missing section of Fanno Creek Greenway Trail in Tigard, along SW 74th Ave, and a missing piece through a Metro-owned parcel adjacent to Bonita Park (pictured). Tigard is hoping to organize a Tigard Trail Users group; contact Duane Roberts at (503) 718-2444 if you’re interested.

We ended the day looking at the Tualatin River Bicycle and Pedestrian Bridge (pictured at top), which is due for completion this winter (January or February). The bridge will link Tualatin’s Community Park, Durham’s City Park, and Tigard’s Cook Park, and link the existing network of biking and hiking trails together.

Hooray! The Fanno Creek Trail was identified as key in our Blueprint for Better Biking: 40 Ways to Get There report, and the need for good connections over the west hills has often been raised by the biking community. We also know that good multiuse trails are preferred routes by most bicyclists.