Floyd A. O'Reilly Blog: Port project in Troutdale will include 2.1 mile path extension

Friday, August 26, 2016

Port project in Troutdale will include 2.1 mile path extension

Currently not signed or maintained for public use, this stretch of levee along the Columbia River north of Troutdale is slated for a paved path in 2018.
(Photos: J. Maus/BikePortland)

A Port of Portland project in Troutdale will include a significant extension to the 40-Mile Loop path along the Sandy and Columbia Rivers.

The extension totals 2.1 miles and will finally make it possible to walk and roll on a paved path between Marine Drive near Blue Lake Park (via NE 223rd Ave) and the new paths along the Sandy River constructed by the Oregon Department of Transportation in 2014.

Here’s a map showing how these new paths will make the connection between the 84/Sandy River and Marine Drive.

BikePortland sketch of forthcoming (purple) and existing (green) paths and roads.

And here’s the Port’s project map:

Port of Portland graphic.

The new paths comes as part of the Troutdale Reynolds Industrial Park development, also known as TRIP. The site was recently featured in the Portland Tribune following a new report by the Environmental Protection Agency.

The 700-acre site used to be an aluminum plant and now the Port wants to create an industrial zone that the EPA says will support 3,500 jobs. The Port of Portland owns the property, which is adjacent to the Troutdale Airport.

While the Port says it’ll take 10 years for the site to be fully developed, Melanie Mesaros, a spokeswoman for the Port told us they’ll begin construction on the paths in 2018. The design phase will star this fiscal year and construction is only being held up because the paths are on a levee and Multnomah County is going through a levee recertification process.

Mesaros told us via email Friday that the path extension work will be broken up into two main sections: a 1.77 mile segment from Blue Lake Park to Sundial Road (see dotted line on map above), and a .33-mile segment near Harlow Road adjacent to the Sandy River. Once complete, it will be possible to easily avoid downtown Troutdale, Interstate 84 interchanges, and that high-stress frontage road near the truck stop that’s familiar to anyone who’s ridden in this area.

You might recall that back in May 2015 I shared a ride report and photos from this exact area. In that story I rode on unimproved dirt paths in both of the sections where the Port planned to make a paved connection.

The existing paved path near Company Lake and Sundial Road.

Existing condition of section between Harlow Road and existing 40-Mile Loop path that is slated for pavement.

— Jonathan Maus, (503) 706-8804 – jonathan@bikeportland.org

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