Thurston Regional Trails Plan December 2007 THURSTON REGIONAL PLANNING COUNCIL (TRPC) is a 21-member intergovernmental board made up of local governmental jurisdictions within Thurston County, plus the Confederated Tribes of the Chehalis Reservation and the Nisqually Indian Tribe. The Council was established in 1967 under RCW 36.70.060, which authorized creation of regional planning councils. TRPC’s mission is to “Provide Visionary Leadership on Regional Plans, Policies, and Issues.” The primary functions of TRPC are to develop regional plans and policies for transportation [as the federally recognized Metropolitan Planning Organization (MPO) and state recognized Regional Transportation Planning Organization (RTPO)], growth management, environmental quality, and other topics determined by the Council; provide data and analysis to support local and regional decision making; act as a “convener” to build community consensus on regional issues through information and citizen involvement; build intergovernmental consensus on regional plans, policies, and issues, and advocate local implementation; and provide planning, historic preservation, and technical services on a contractual basis. This report was prepared as part of the Thurston Regional Planning Council’s 2007 regional work program. 2007 MEMBERSHIP THURSTON REGIONAL PLANNING COUNCIL Governmental Jurisdiction Name of 2007 Representative City of Lacey Virgil Clarkson, Mayor City of Olympia Karen Messmer, Councilmember City of Rainier Dennis McVey, Councilmember City of Tenino Ken Jones, Mayor City of Tumwater Ed Stanley, Councilmember City of Yelm Robert Isom, Councilmember Town of Bucoda Kathy Martin, Mayor Thurston County Cathy Wolfe, Commissioner Intercity Transit Karen Valenzuela, Board Member LOTT Alliance Nancy Peterson, Board Member Thurston County PUD No. 1 Gary Cooper, Commissioner Griffin School District David Elliott, Board Member North Thurston Public Schools Chuck Namit, Board Member Olympia School District Michelle Parvinen, Board Member Confederated Tribes of the Chehalis Reservation David Burnett, Tribal Chairman Nisqually Indian Tribe Francine Lester, Tribal Councilmember Associate Members Economic Development Council of Thurston County John Setterstrom, President Lacey Fire District #3 Frank Kirkbride, Commissioner Puget Sound Regional Council Norman Abbott, Director, Growth Mngt. Div. Timberland Regional Library Dick Nichols, Board Member Charter Member Emeritus The Evergreen State College Paul Smith, Director of Facilities Services Chair Vice Chair Secretary Ken Jones Ed Stanley Cathy Wolfe City of Tenino City of Tumwater Thurston County Lon D. Wyrick, Executive Director 2007 MEMBERSHIP TRANSPORTATION POLICY BOARD Governmental Jurisdiction Name of 2007 Representative City of Lacey Graeme Sackrison City of Olympia Doug Mah City of Tenino John O’Callahan City of Tumwater Pete Kmet City of Yelm John Thompson Thurston County Bob Macleod Confederated Tribes of the Chehalis Reservation Amy Loudermilk Nisqually Indian Tribe Jim Longley Intercity Transit Tom Green Port of Olympia Bill McGregor Washington State Department of Transportation, Olympic Region Kevin Dayton Washington State Department of General Administration Joan Cullen Business Representative Jim Boyde Business Representative Tom Fender Citizen Representative Patty Betts Citizen Representative Doug DeForest Chair Vice Chair Doug Mah Pete Kmet EX OFFICIO TPB MEMBERS WASHINGTON STATE LEGISLATURE 2nd Legislative District Senator Marilyn Rasmussen Representative Jim McCune Representative Tom Campbell 20th Legislative District Senator Dan Swecker Representative Gary Alexander Representative Richard DeBolt 22nd Legislative District Senator Karen Fraser Representative Sam Hunt Representative Brendan Williams 35th Legislative District Senator Tim Sheldon Representative William Eickmeyer Representative Kathy Haigh 2007 MEMBERSHIP TECHNICAL ADVISORY COMMITTEE Governmental Jurisdiction Name of 2007 Representative City of Lacey Martin Hoppe City of Olympia Dave Riker City of Tumwater Doug Johnston City of Yelm Jim Gibson Thurston County Dale Rancour Intercity Transit Dennis Bloom Washington State Department of Transportation, Olympic Region George Kovich Washington State Department of Transportation, Highways & Local Programs Brian Moorehead Chair Vice Chair Jim Gibson Doug Johnston with additional support by: City of Lacey Parks Department Jared Burbidge City of Olympia Sophie Stimson City of Olympia Parks, Arts and Recreation David Hanna City of Tenino Dan Carnrite Puget Sound and Pacific Railroad Company Slim Mattox The Evergreen State College Mark Kormandy The Evergreen State College Paul Smith Thurston County Parks and Recreation Chuck Groth Thurston County Parks and Recreation Kerry Hibdon Thurston County Public Health & Social Services Chris Hawkins Washington State Department of General Administration Nathaniel Jones Washington State Department of Natural Resources Brian Poehlein Washington State Department of Transportation, Olympic Region Robert Barnes Washington State Department of Transportation, Olympic Region T.J. Nedrow Washington State Department of Transportation, Olympic Region Carrie Sunstrom Woodland Trail Greenway Association Jack Horton REGIONAL CITIZENS TRAILS ADVISORY COMMITTEE Peg Amandes Ann Butler Bob Duffy Nancy Garcia Willie Hansen Jack Horton Nicki Johnson Jim Lazar Larry Leveen Suzanne Malakoff Jerome Parker Rosanne Thompson Linda Weaver Robb Wilcox Dick Yarboro THURSTON REGIONAL PLANNING COUNCIL STAFF Paul Brewster Project Lead, Associate Planner Thera Black Senior Planner Holly Gilbert Senior Planner Kathy McCormick Senior Planner Steven Morrison Senior Planner Karen Parkhurst Senior Planner Pete Swensson Senior Planner Veena Tabbutt Senior Planner Bhanu Yerra Transportation Engineer Dave Read Information Technology Manager Scott Carte GIS Coordinator Jailyn Brown Associate Planner Jeff Holcomb GIS Analyst Rosalie Bostwick Office Manager Polly Flanagan Accountant Tonda Taylor Administrative Assistant Sarah Morley Project Assistant Erin Cahill Office Specialist I Toni Tringolo Office Specialist II Lon D. Wyrick Executive Director Susan Andrews Assistant Director Thurston Regional Planning Council Table of Contents Table of Contents Executive Summary .........................................................................ES-1 Background ................................................................................................ES-1 Why Plan for Trails? ..................................................................................ES-2 Recommended Acceptance of this Plan .....................................................ES-3 Trails and Trips: Definition and Function ..................................................ES-3 Trail Definition ....................................................................................ES-3 Trail Trips ............................................................................................ES-4 Trails Promote Public Health .....................................................................ES-5 Roles and Relationship to other Plans .......................................................ES-6 Next Steps ..................................................................................................ES-6 1. Introduction ....................................................................................1-1 A Brief History of Trails – Past to Present ....................................................1-1 Before Cars, Natural History and the first inhabitants ...........................1-1 The Pioneers ...........................................................................................1-1 Recent Planning History .........................................................................1-2 The Dawn of Rail Trails .........................................................................1-4 Bridging the Gap ....................................................................................1-4 The Regional Trails Plan ...............................................................................1-5 The Regional Trails Planning Process ....................................................1-5 2. Goals and Policies ..........................................................................2-1 2025 Regional Transportation Plan Guiding Principals and Goals and Policies .........................................................................................2-1 Selected Goals and Policies from the 2025 Regional Transportation Plan That Guide and Promote Regional Trail Planning and Development ............................................................2-2 Regional Trail Planning Vision and Goals and Policies ...............................2-2 Regional Trail Network Vision .....................................................................2-3 Goals and Policies ..................................................................................2-3 3. Conditions and Recommendations ...............................................3-1 Existing Facilities .........................................................................................3-1 Overview of Existing Trails, Right-of-Ways and Gaps ..........................3-1 Sidewalks, Bike Lanes, and Wide Shoulders .........................................3-4 Recommendations .........................................................................................3-5 A. The Regional Trail Network ..............................................................3-5 B. Regional Trail Stakeholder