On a mission to build more trails, Metro assembles Blue Ribbon Committee

Jonathan Maus (Publisher/Editor)

17 years ago

Metro Council President David Bragdon — seen
here at the Platinum press conference on Tuesday —
has big plans for trails in our region.
(Photos © J. Maus)

Metro — an elected regional government that manages everything from parks and trails to solid waste and the Oregon Zoo — has launched a new effort to improve our regional trails network.

Last week, members of the Metro Council confirmed the selection of a Blue Ribbon Committee for Trails.

The 20-member committee includes a range of leaders — from local companies like Keen Footwear, Nau, and New Seasons Market, as well as politicians, advocates, developers, an architect, and the manager of a major hotel and conference center.

The mission of this diverse group will be to evaluate the existing trail system, determine the benefits trails bring to the region, and to propose a funding strategy to fully build out the trail system.

Bragdon (in yellow) and bike planning
consultant Mia Birk riding along the Burnt
Bridge Creek trail in Vancouver Washington.

“Imagine extending the Springwater trail beyond Gresham so that you could cycle from Pioneer Courthouse Square all the way out through Deep Canyon,” wrote Metro Council President David Bragdon in an email to me this morning, “and then ride quietly into an entirely non-motorized campground in a glade of trees along the banks of the Clackamas River.”

Bragdon says he wants the trail system to “benefit all sorts of cyclists.” He says by focusing the committee’s efforts on connecting missing links and by extending the trail system even further “all sorts of cyclists will benefit, whether it’s the daily commuter who wants to cycle to Intel each day, or the seven year-old and her dad out for a first ride on the Fanno Creek Trail on a Saturday afternoon.”

The Blue Ribbon Committee for Trails meets for the first time next Monday (5/5) and will continue to meet each month through October 2008. If you’re interested in this effort, the public is welcome to attend the meetings.

Blue Ribbon Committee for Trails

Website