The Yamhelas Westsider Trail is back in the news. The last time I checked in on this project that would build a new 17-mile rail-trail in Yamhill County between McMinnville and Forest Grove, it was mired in controversy.
Advocates for the path ultimately lost that round in 2021 when it “became a target of far-right extremism” and anti-trail County Commissioners voted to repeal the project’s land use application. The project largely sat on the shelf until late October of this year. That’s when Mary Starrett, one of the commissioners who led the previous opposition effort, partnered with one of the other two commissioners to support a draft ordinance that would strip the project from the county’s transportation system plan. The move came as a surprise to trail supporters.
If the trail project is stripped from the TSP, it would essentially move the idea back to square one.
Friends of Yamhelas Westsider Trail, a nonprofit who sees the trail as a vital link for walkers and rollers that would complement other rail-trails in the region, has responded quickly and is rallying members and supporters to fight the move.
“Now is the time to act. Let’s make our voices heard in support of Rails To Trails. Share your opinion with the Planning Committee. Make plans to present testimony at public hearings on the issue,” reads an email from the group. “Now is the time to make sure the Yamhill County Board of Commissioners does not kill the Yamhelas Westsider Trail once and for all.”
That draft ordinance will be heard by the Yamhill County Planning Commission tonight at 7:00 pm in McMinnville. Jester hopes to pack the meeting with pro-trail advocates to save it from the dustbin.
“With family in McMinnville and having lived both there and in Newberg, having grown up in western Washington County, and having repeatedly ridden similar trails in different parts of the Northwest and especially along this stretch, I know the potential for this trail project firsthand,” Jester shared with BikePortland. He also sees it as a way to smooth over Oregon’s urban/rural divide by encouraging more people to access public spaces together — instead of just zooming by each other on highways.