The Times - Serving Waitsburg, Dayton and the Touchet Valley

DAYTON – More than 100 people crowded into a meeting room at Dayton’s Best Western Hotel Monday evening to hear about a regional trails-planning process that has begun, and to provide their own ideas about where non-motorized transportation improvements are needed.

The Blue Mountain Region Trails, Bike Routes, Sidewalks Plan is a joint effort of several agencies in Columbia, Walla Walla and Umatilla Counties. Local planning agencies in the three counties have joined with the National Park Service to begin a comprehensive 16-month planning process they hope to complete by mid-2018.

Goals of the project include:

Connect communities

Enhance outdoor recreation

Increase walking and biking options and safe routes to schools and parks

Promote a healthy and active lifestyle for everyone

Improve quality of life and economic development

At the workshop, maps were displayed on tables, and participants were asked to address three issues: Where are gaps? What are additional destinations needed? Where do we need connections?

Once the plan is completed, local jurisdictions (city and county governments) will be asked to adopt the plan’s recommendations when implementing transportation improvements.

The planning process was made possible by a “technical support” grant by the National Park Service Rivers, Trails, and Conservation Assistance program.

A website with information on the Blue Mountain Region Trails plan has recently gone live. It can be found at bluezonetrails.org.

The Times will provide a much more in-depth look at the Blue Mountain Region Trails planning project in an upcoming issue.