Riverfront Revitalization to bring Relaxation
Crestline Construction crews were hard at it on The Dalles Riverfront Trail on Thursday as they provided a new base for the pathway that will later be paved. The west end of the trail - from Chenoweth Creek to the Discovery Center - is expected to reopen by the end of June. The trail repair is going around Google’s most westerly building near Taylor Lake. The repair was necessary as the substructure to the path was failing. Crews dug down three feet and replaced the material with two-inch rock, layered with 1/8th inch fines and then topped with 3/4 minus rock. The subsurface before was essentially fill left over from Mt. Fir Mill, which burned down in August of 2002. The surface is solid now - enough to support several tons of construction roller seen here in orange.
By Tom Peterson
The west end of The Dalles Riverfront Trail is getting some needed repairs this week as crews are rebuilding the bedding of several hundred feet of the trail near Google’s west end building near Taylor Lake.
The trail is temporarily closed and is expected to be reopened by the end of June after paving occurs.
Fisherman Austin Sherwood, 14, shows off a nice bass near Klindt’s Cove on Riverfront trail. He and his family spent the day recreating on the Columbia thanks to the access created both by the trail and Kiwanis Pocket Park.
That is welcome news to fishermen, bikers and walkers, rollerbladers, skaters, scooter riders, recumbent cruisers, swimmers, lunchtime loopers, diggity dog movers and skateboard cruisers.
Bruce Lumper with The Dalles Riverfront Trail Inc. said the work is part of the overall project to rebuild where needed and resurface the full length of the path so that maintenance is kept to a minimum for the next 20 years.
The project began last year as some $315,000 was raised to do the maintenance. Contributors to the cause were City of The Dalles, $100,000; Wasco County, $50,000; Northern Wasco County PUD, $50,000; Port of The Dalles, $50,000; Google’s Tides Foundation, $37,000, and annual local fundraisers, $28,000.
Once the work near Google is complete, Lumper said the west end of the trail will reopen until late summer or fall.
Bonneville Power Administration Work
The BPA will be repairing about 1,000 linear feet of the path where they had to put in new power poles between Taylor Lake and Google. Lumper said they are working with BPA. Tenneson Engineering is calculating the cost for the job and they hope to have a final agreement with BPA soon to begin getting contractors in place to complete the work. It is expected to occur in late summer or fall.
Riverfront Trail Bridge crossing Chenoweth Creek did no escape the lick of flames. Dry grasses and shrubs burned underneath it, doing some minor damage to the wooden boards inside the steel structure.
Fire Damage
The June 2 the grass fire that started near the Discovery Center and ended at Chenowith Creek did some damage to the Riverfront Trail bridge crossing the creek. Several boards were burned. But Lumper said the metal structure was still solid and a plywood repair and cones were sufficient to keep it open. The boards are expected to be replaced in weeks to come.
Running from Roots
Here is a look at the boards that burned and the piece of plywood that is covering the damage. The bridge remains safe for trail users.
Lumper said they are also working toward shifting a portion of the trail that runs parallel to Chenowith Creek to the west.
Why?
Because poplar trees along the estuary are constantly putting out roots and tearing up the asphalt path.
Lumper said an easement has been attained from The Port of The Dalles, and they submitted a grant to Oregon State Parks Recreational Trails Program asking for $99,000 to help pay for the improvement. Riverfront Trails Inc. will contribute $25,000 for the match necessary to receive it. The grant was submitted on Tuesday, June 15.
“We need that extra $100,000 to pull this off,” Lumper said.
Word on the grant decision is expected in months to come.
Final Thoughts
The Dalles Riverfront Trail Inc. is a nonprofit that works hand-in-hand with Northern Wasco County Parks and Recreation, private companies and state and federal agencies to fund and maintain the trail.
Mother Nature wastes no time - these sprouts were coming up along Chenoweth Creek on Thursday in the floodplain of the creek, charred on June 2. They’re almost as prolific as humans on the trail.
Katy Young and Dan Durrow of Riverfront Trail Inc. have been pushing for the trail’s success since its inception with a master plan conceived in the late ‘80s.
Lumper said Russ Brown, The Dalles City Manager Julie Kreuger, Munsen Paving, Tennesen Engineering, David Roger’s Seal Kote, Crestline Construction and other major players have contributed heavily to the path’s success.
The long-range vision is to set up an endowment for the trail so that money is available for bigger projects in years to come, Lumper said.
“It’s one thing to build it,” he said of the trail. “It’s quite another to maintain it.”
Riverfront Trail provides a community connection to the Columbia River, offering nearby access to wade, take in nature, and generally re-create. Wanna splash-fight?
