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Blazing new trail on Little Spokane
5/27/03 Spokane, WA - Building trails through natural areas along the Little Spokane River is cheap and easy compared to the more essential task of building trails through the area's spreading suburban jungle. But a volunteer group is teaming to make sure that walkers, runners and bikers aren't squeezed out and forced into cars in order to get from homes to schools, shopping centers, parks and natural areas. The first humble mile of a trail system that could eventually include more than 25 miles will be dedicated Saturday, 10 a.m., at Pine River Park. That mile of trail, which goes past Gleneden Park, isn't going to make Sunset Magazine. It's a tribute to function rather than aesthetics. It was designed by volunteers, hacked out by hand and with $15,000 of donated rental equipment and materials so neighborhood residents can get somewhere without sharing the dangerous road with vehicles. Why every neighborhood isn't designed with trails is a question for people to ask even farther on the outskirts of town, where the same mistakes are being made. But the Friends of the Little Spokane River aren't looking back for blame. They're looking forward for possibilities. The landscape has changed dramatically since a love for bicycling attracted Loren Dudley to live in the Little Spokane area six years ago on land his parents had owned since 1977. "The portion of this valley that was used in 1984 and 1988 for the Olympic cycling trials would no longer be practical," he said. "The traffic and development has increased so much." Dudley and his wife, Chris, are part of the Friends group that's trying to work every angle to get trails parity with roads. The Friends have the blessing of Spokane County; they've secured grants for help from National Park Service experts in urban trail systems; they're drumming up brain power to get the trail systems on transportation plans and the muscle power to get them on the ground. "You only have to go to Little Spokane River Drive and Cincinnati or go on Cincinnati to Dartford and see how busy and dangerous it's become," Chris said. "The new freeway coming in at Wandermere could make it difficult for bicyclists to make connections out of here." The pinch is hitting area residents in various ways, he said. "Mead High School has a world-class running program that owes a lot of its success to having open spaces and trails over all kinds of terrain for young athletes to run on," Dudley said. "Now the kids are being forced to run on sidewalks and streets where it's more dangerous. They're losing their tradition. They've already lost a third of the trails they had in the area where the new freeway is coming through." The inaugural mile is just a start of what the Friends hope will be a useful user-friendly trail system. But even the first mile wasn't without its critics. One landowner had landscaped right up through the county right of way on Little Spokane River Drive where the Friends had county approval to build the trail. "She wasn't happy that we put the trail through there and she let us know as much with a sign she painted on the fence," Dudley said. "But we have to work through the private mentality or we're going to lose our ability to get around out here." The Friends convinced the county commissioners to adopt their plans into the comprehensive plan. "That was a huge, important step," said Martha Schaeffer, Friends member. "Funding, of course, is our main issue." Grants are being sought, she added. "We're celebrating the first mile of trail on (Saturday) even though we're not able to afford paving at this time. "Unfortunately, it won't go through anything very natural because there aren't that many private property owners willing to let that happen. "But eventually it could go through the Haines Estates, which was bought by the county Conservations Futures program, and we're trying to get a trail from Pine River Park to Wandermere and connect the neighborhood pools, and services, such as the mall and bus stops." Liberty Lake, which voted for a measure to link its neighborhoods and services with trails, is the role model for the Friends of the Little Spokane, she said. "But nobody is going to come out and get a good trail system going in this valley if we don't get it going ourselves," Dudley said. Info: www. littlespokanetrails.org. |