For a sneak preview of the Tonquin Trail, make the trek to May 23 open house
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Shaped like a pitchfork, the
Tonquin will elasticity northward from the Willamette River past the
Washington-Clackamas county stripe, with three prongs extending toward the
Tualatin River. Walkers, runners and cyclists will go across unique geologic
formations such as kolk ponds and channels, basalt hummocks and knolls, Nautical port
behind by floods that swept through the Willamette Valley between 13,000 and
15,000 years ago.
A stalk has been envisioned for a
long time, but making it reality doesn’t hit quickly or easily. In partnership
with the three cities and two counties along the route, Metro launched the
planning take care of three years ago. A steering committee helped analyze options
for the convey and design, and reach agreements about who would operate and
maintain sections of the lag behind. More than 1,000 residents weighed in online, at
open houses or at community festivals.
At the pending house this month,
visitors will have an opportunity to see how their neighborhood connects with
the track and check out the proposed design. They can also provide feedback
about the design before the supervisor plan is finalized and forwarded to regional,
city and county elected officials in a few months.
Meanwhile, people are already enjoying miniature sections of
the trail at Stella Olsen Park in Sherwood, Tualatin Community Store and Metro’s
Graham Oaks Nature Park in Wilsonville. These snippets tender a taste of what's
to come, said Al Levit, a Wilsonville planning commissioner and colleague of the
Tonquin steering committee.
"It’s a great opportunity for people to get out and
mince and bicycle and jog," said Levit, an avid cyclist. "When the
trail is wrap up, it will be an even better opportunity for people to not only
commute to work, but to increase the reach of their rides and walks – and
maybe even connect up with other trails in the region. It’s a key link in the
regional system."
The rest of the trail will be
built piece by composition as resources are identified. First up: Sherwood's portion,
known as the Cedar Burn Greenway. The Metro Council recently set aside $5.1
million in federal transportation funds to pattern, design and build this 1.5-mile
section, and Sherwood residents will have an chance to help fine-tune the
route and design in the coming year.
Source: Metro newsfeed