County has a “condensed timeframe” for planning a trail from Friday Harbor to Beaverton Marsh Preserve.
By the end of August, Washington State Department of Transportation will review plans for a new trail on San Juan Island utilizing $5.2 million of funding earmarked by Rep. Rick Larsen from the Fiscal Year 2023 Omnibus Spending Package. A public meeting is planned for Feb. 25 at the Mullis Center in Friday Harbor from 5–7:30 p.m. to present information on the proposal.
“We have an extremely condensed timeframe on this project,” project manager Rachel Dietzman said at the county council retreat on Jan. 12. Nonetheless, “things are going ahead.” To utilize the funding, physical engineering plans must be signed off by Transportation by the end of August.
Plans show the trail stretching from the town of Friday Harbor into rural San Juan Island. The new segment of trail would connect the John O. Linde Community Park in Friday Harbor to the Beaverton Marsh Preserve , which begins at the end of Halverson Road, about three miles out of town by car.
The original alignment for this trail was proposed to go along San Juan Valley Road from town to Zylstra Lake. However, in 2023 the county dropped this proposal from its Six-Year Transportation Improvement Plan after it was met with staunch opposition, and “No Trail” signs appeared all along the road.
Milestone for a walkway
According to Dietzman, 30% of the design is expected to be completed this month, which will be “a real milestone,” she said. It will identify exactly where the trail will go, the amount of material to be moved and other aspects of the project.
Dietzman said that much of the project is already built, with existing trails in place at both ends of this proposal. To connect the two trails, the San Juan County Conservation Land Bank was faced with the challenge of building the segment over part of Beaverton Marsh. Each side has a steep slope down to the valley floor, and the marsh itself has deep soils that become saturated with water in the winter months. Dietzman said there are some old-growth trees in the area and the trail is being designed to have minimal impact on habitat.
The trail is approximately 1.8 miles long from the entrance to the land bank property at John O. Linde Park to the Halverson Road parking area. The new section of trail that will be constructed to create a suspended boardwalk crossing the marsh is just 2,456 feet long, but much of the existing portion will need to be widened to eight feet to accommodate bicycles and pedestrians.
Land bank director Lincoln Bormann said the trail over the marsh will consist of a boardwalk, partly suspended and supported at the ends. The new trail will be designed to be eight feet wide, with shoulders in some areas to accommodate both bicycles and pedestrians. The trail is being designed to have shallow slopes. Additional handicapped parking sites will be added at Linde Park to accommodate people with mobility challenges.
Councilmember Kari McVeigh said of all the county projects she has seen, “support for this project has been universal, with a great deal of excitement.”
Bormann said that a major difference between the proposed trail to Zylstra Lake and this trail alignment is that this proposal does not cross private property. San Juan Island Parks and Recreation Department manages Linde Community Park, and the Land Bank already owns Beaverton Valley marsh.
“The whole thing is really beautiful,” Dietzman said. “The trail down to the marsh is so interesting. It feels so purposeful, it is very appealing.”
Compared to previous trail alignment along San Juan Valley Road, she said this trail is in the middle of a preserve, not alongside any roads, providing a quieter experience.
— By Nancy DeVaux
Also read in Salish Current:
• “Commentary: Islanders launch campaign to renew Land Bank’s funding,” July 11, 2024
• “San Juan County Land Bank: What’s next?,” May 7, 2024
• “Zylstra Lake trail project removed from county plans,” Dec. 1, 2023
• “Multimodal trail in San Juan Valley opposed by farmers,” Nov. 9, 2023