Three sections of the Olympic Discovery Trail received funding in the state’s 2009-2010 capital projects budget, including the Dry Creek bridge that will help extend the trail west from Port Angeles to the Elwha River.
"We’re on a roll. In six or seven years, I think we’ll be at Sappho," said Chuck Preble from the Peninsula Trails Coalition.
Also funded in the capital budget are buying the Agnew soccer fields and preserving Finn Hall Farm.
The Washington Wildlife and Recreation Program, a state grant program that funds parks, trails, wildlife habitat and farmland preservation projects, received $70 million for the 2009-2010 biennium that begins July 1.
The Dry Creek bridge project will span Dry Creek and make Americans with Disability Act improvements at selected locations along 1 3/4 miles between 10th Street in Port Angeles and Lower Elwha Road.
The 100-percent match for the $379,670 grant is being provided by the Peninsula Trails Coalition, Lower Elwha Klallam tribe and the city of Port Angeles.
The Spruce Railroad Tunnel Restoration project will restore two historical railroad tunnels at Lake Crescent and nine miles of historical railroad grade accessing the tunnels on the north side of Lake Crescent.
The project includes tunnel liners, to prevent rocks from falling, and rebuilding almost three miles of the railroad grade for tunnel access.
Tunnel restoration removes the last major obstacle to bicycle use on Lake Crescent’s north side, allowing bicyclists to bypass U.S. Highway 101 on the lake’s south side.
The $1.23 million match for the $999,000 grant is being provided by Clallam County.
The Larry Scott Memorial Trail project funds 3.4 miles of trail and parallel equestrian track to extend the first section of the Olympic Discovery Trail 8.5 miles from Port Townsend southwest to Discovery Bay.
Scott was an original member of the Peninsula Trails Coalition and one of the founders of the Olympic Discovery Trail.
The Agnew soccer fields project allows Clallam County to buy 7.4 acres at 1240 N. Barr Road west of Sequim that includes two fields and a restroom.
The Agnew Helpful Neighbors Club leased the property to the Storm King Soccer Club, whose volunteers built the fields. The property was put up for sale last year.
The 100-percent match for the $205,500 grant comes from Clallam County.
The Finn Hall Farm project will buy the development rights to a 50-acre farm at 970 Finn Hall Road that has been owned by the family of John and Carmen Jarvis since the 1920s. It has been managed mostly as a dairy and currently as a cow and hay operation.
Once the development rights are purchased, the property is leased to an interested farmer. The $1.03 million match for the $868,075 grant comes from Clallam County.
Reach Brian Gawley at bgawley@sequimgazette.com.
