Outreach Continues On Proposed Chelan Douglas Pathways Project

Public outreach is continuing on the proposed Chelan and Douglas County Pathways project to build paved trails in the region. 

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Meetings are currently being held in three Chelan County commission districts.  

District 2 Commissioner Shon Smith attended a meeting in Cashmere for the proposed trail between Wenatchee and Leavenworth, and he says protection of agriculture businesses was a top priority. 

"The biggest concerns were the effect on agriculture and where the potential routes could go so that the negative impacts would not affect agriculture," said Smith. 

The consulting group ALTA is handling the research for the Pathways Project. Smith told fellow commissioners at Monday's public county commission meeting that he attended a Pathways meeting at the Cashmere Riverside Center last Thursday with about a dozen other attendees, including local orchardists, members of the Leavenworth Chamber and Cashmere Mayor Jim Fletcher. He said attendees took a survey after a presentation by ALTA. 

Smith said it's very possible that the proposed trail between Leavenworth and Wenatchee could have a gap in tight spaces controlled by orchardists. 

"There could be some spots where it's a dead end," Smith said. "So, we developed from Leavenworth to Peshastin. And then there's a dead end because we can't get that next connection." 

There's thinking that the orchardists may one day be open to selling their land as market conditions evolve over years, and that carving a trail through that land to connect to other sections of the trail could be undertaken at that time. 

Commissioners also discussed what the paved trail would look like and whether it could handle high speed bicyclists as well as much slower moving pedestrians. Commissioner Kevin Overbay said there have been discussions over possibly constructing a wider trail divided into different lanes to accommodate faster and slower moving traffic.  

The plan is for the Pathways routes and design to be more formalized by this fall. The goal is to achieve a 30-60 percent design phase and have trail alignments identified, which would likely open more federal dollars for the project. 

There’s currently a total of $1.46 million going toward the research and study on building the Pathways project. It includes $900,000 in federal money which is managed by the state Department of Transportation. That funding is being coupled with money from Chelan County and local cities including Leavenworth, Cashmere, Wenatchee, and Rock Island. 

The plan for the Pathways project is to connect neighboring communities to Chelan, Leavenworth, Cashmere, Wenatchee, and East Wenatchee. 

The project includes paved pathways in five corridors, which are generally described as: 

• The SR 28 corridor between East Wenatchee and Rock Island; 
• The Malaga Alcoa Highway corridor between Wenatchee and Malaga; 
• The Upper Wenatchee River Valley between Wenatchee and Leavenworth; and 
• The SR 150 corridor between Chelan and Manson. 
• The latest addition is a rails and trails pathway from Wenatchee to Chelan 

According to commissioners, ALTA is holding a meeting Tuesday in Overbay’s District 1 and in Commissioner Tiffany Gering’s District 3 next week.