ARLINGTON — It may only seem to them like they’ve been waiting 100 years for the Centennial Trail to be completed.
After years of patience, the walkers, hikers, runners, horsemen and bicycle riders of the Centennial Trail Coalition of Snohomish County are looking forward to traversing a new stretch of trail. It isn’t cleared yet, but construction is slated to begin next month.
“We need a groundbreaking ceremony and a party,” trail coalition chairman Bea Randall said. “This has been a long time coming and we’re all very excited.”
Work on the proposed 8-mile section from Arlington north to the Skagit County line is expected to start in October, Snohomish County Parks and Recreation director Tom Teigen said.
The permits are in hand, the project went out to bid this week and county officials plan to award the construction project by the end of the month. Construction on the new section of trail, funded in part by the state, will cost about $6 million, Teigen said.
The Centennial Trail got its start in the late 1980s, when a 6-mile segment was established between Snohomish and Lake Stevens. It opened in 1989, the state’s centennial year, and primarily follows an old railroad line from the late 1800s.
The northern section of the trail from Arlington runs parallel to Highway 9 on the former railway right of way.
The county is still working to obtain permits to repair an existing 100-year-old bridge or build a new trail bridge over Pilchuck Creek north of Bryant.
Because of the weak economy, construction bids for county projects have been coming in at about 20 percent lower than originally estimated, Teigen said.
“So there’s a good chance we may be on our way to completing the whole construction phase,” he said. “We couldn’t be more excited to get this going.”
The popular middle section of the recreation trail covers about 17 miles between Snohomish and Arlington, not including a gap in the trail between 152nd Street NE and 172nd Street NE, which county officials hope to close at some point.
In Arlington, the proposed 27-mile Whitehorse Trail to Darrington also is in the works, Randall said.
Currently, a 6-mile stretch, from Swede Heaven Road to Darrington, is open for use. The remainder of the trail, which parallels Highway 530, remains closed until bridge railings and decking can be installed, though the walk between Arlington and the Trafton trailhead is usable.
“Arlington is becoming a hub for trails,” Randall said. “This is good news for the community,” Teigen said.
Adjacent to the Skagit County line, the parks department owns about 83 acres of the former Nakashima family farm, which eventually will serve as a park and north trailhead, he said.
“The Centennial Trail is an economic development tool,” Tiegen said. “It also is an asset that connects people to their county parks.”
The trail coalition has been a good partner with the county parks department, adding signs, picnic tables and benches along the trail, Teigen said.
For awhile now, Randall has been growing native plants at her Arlington home in anticipation of the opening of the northern stretch of the Centennial Trail in the county. The plants will be used to replace those that are pulled out to build the trail.
Randall, a master gardener, also has a dream of establishing a floral crossing on the old railroad trestle and future trail bridge over the Stillaguamish River at Arlington.
The idea is fashioned after the Bridge of Flowers in Shelburne Falls, Mass., which has vines and flowers that hang from the bridge.
“Now that the trail is going north, that dream is still alive, too,” Randall said.
Gale Fiege: 425-339-3427; gfiege@heraldnet.com.
Trail meeting
The Centennial Trail Coalition of Snohomish County plans to meet at 3 p.m. Sept. 13 in the picnic shelter area at the Machias trailhead for a potluck meal and meeting.
Coalition members plan to count the number of trail users that day and talk about the party to celebrate the start of construction on the north section of the trail.
For directions to the trailhead, go to www1.co.snohomish.wa.us/Departments/Parks.
For more information, call 360-435-3892.
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