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Summer 2002 The Landscape: 40 Mile Loop & Regional Trails: Park it Here

Shannon Axtell Portland State University

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Recommended Citation Axtell, Sharon (2002). "The Landscape: 40 Mile Loop & Regional Trails: Park it Here," Metroscape, Summer 2002, pages 4-5. Published by Institute of Portland Metropolitan Studies, Nohad A. Toulan School of Urban Studies & Planning, Portland State University.

This Article is brought to you for free and open access. It has been accepted for inclusion in Metroscape by an authorized administrator of PDXScholar. Please contact us if we can make this document more accessible: [email protected]. The LandscaP-.....e _____ 40MILELOOP

by Shannon Axtell

early a hundred years ago, landscape architect far beyond the original length; it is expected to be more John Charles Olmsted formulated a vision for than 150 miles long when completed. But the Loop's N Portland's parks that has endured until today. trails and parks are embedded within a larger network of The Portland Parks Board invited Olmsted to propose a regional and local trails. park system as part of the planning for the upcoming Metro's 1992 Metropolitan Greenspaces Master Plan Lewis and Clark Exposition. His report recommended describes "a vision of a cooperative regional system of "scenic reservations, parks, parkways and connecting parks, natural areas, greenways and trails for fish, boulevards" creating a citywide system of parks. wildlife and people." In 1995 voters approved a $135.6 Portland's well-known 40 Mile Loop - a trail system million bond measure that has enabled Metro to pur­ connecting many of the City's parks - stems from chase nearly 7 ,000 acres of natural areas and greenways Olmsted's 1903 vision. Today, planners imagine a Loop throughout the region. In 1998, Metro acquired 44 acres constituting a three-mile rail corridor along the east bank of the in Portland. The rail oper­ OLMSTED':s PLAN• PARKS AND BOULEVARDS ator has agreed to relocate the track to accommodate a PORTLAND 19'>3 CP.~,. - :su,,.-r. trail on the riverside. This parcel is a critical piece of the trail that connects OMSI and the east end of the Hawthorne Bridge to the Springwater Corridor. Trail construction is set to begin this summer. When com­ pleted, it will be the only "Rails with Trails" project in the state. A major southeast segment of the 40 Mile Loop, the Springwater Corridor reaches from the eastside industri­ al district in Portland to the city of Boring, nearly 17 miles away. It offers a paved trail fit for a variety of users including walkers, joggers, hikers, and bicyclists while also providing access to wheelchairs. The trail passes through wetlands, buttes, agricultural fields, and residential neighborhoods and connects important parks and open spaces including Tideman Johnson Nature Park, Beggars-tick Wildlife Refuge, , Nature Park, and Gresham Main City Park. Currently the three-county metropolitan area enjoys over 3,000 parks, trails and open spaces. In Portland alone, parks total over 10,000 acres, nearly 11 % of the city's total area. Metro park planner Mel Hui says that ,--~ . L. the long-term vision is to connect every city in the three Courtesy of the Portland City Archives. counties and the two states through trails, parks, and open spaces.

Page 4 Metroscape Regional Parks and Greenspaces 600 NE Grand Ave., Portland, OR 97232-2736 www.metro-region.org/parkslparks.html [email protected] METRO (503) 797-1850

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DClackamas County Metro Open Spaces, Parks and Streams Multnomah County Bond Measure Local Share Allocation Metro's open spaces bond measure DWashington County provides $25 million for the provision of Source: Metro local parks. This money supports open space acquisition , enhanced public access, and improvement projects. More than 100 "local share" projects have been funded to date. Figure 1 depicts the allocation of "local share" funds by county. $7,374,356

Figure 1 $4,983,210

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