The City of Tigard (COT) has announced plans to close a gap in the Fanno Creek Trail located about 10 miles south of downtown Portland along Highway 99.
(Photo from COT leaflet)
Two new sections of trail — from Grant Avenue at the northwest end and Main Street at the southeast end — will connect with an existing section of trail behind the George Morlan Plumbing building. Along with construction of the new trail sections, the city is planning to clean up and revitalize the existing trail.
You’re probably as surprised as I was to hear about a section of the Fanno Creek Trail just north of Highway 99.
This section of trail is a mystery to many people because it doesn’t connect to other areas of the trail and much of it is buried under invasive vegetation. In addition to cleaning up the existing pavement the city will remove invasive species of plants around the trail and replace them with native vegetation.
The new trail will also utilize an existing corridor under Highway 99. Routing the new trail through the underpass will allow people to walk and ride between downtown Tigard and the northern section of the Fanno Creek Trail without needing to cross five lanes of motor vehicle traffic.
The underpass can already be used to cross under Highway 99 but at present the path is unmarked, unevenly paved, and poorly lit at night.
Many residents I’ve spoken with were unaware that it exists and most who were aware of it said they preferred to cross over the highway instead of walk or ride through the current underpass.
Once completed, the new trail and refurbished underpass will connect to where the city is planning a raised crosswalk as part of their Main Street revitalization project. (To learn more about that project, take a look at our story on the future of downtown Tigard.)
Construction on the new section of the trail is expected to begin in July and will continue through October. To get more information you can visit Tigard’s trails page or contact Jeff Peck at jeffp [at] tigard-or [dot] gov.
— Follow all our Washington County bike news here. Contact Will Vanlue, will [at] bikeportland [dot] org with tips and feedback.