Many routes for the Discovery Bay East Trail will work.

Here's a map showing a DBET feasibility-study corridor and four possible routes that would bypass that tough stretch of SR20 over Eaglemount: 

You can view an electronic copy of this Map at http://arcg.is/1KsIgpg. 

The kidney-shaped shaded area on the Map is the feasibility-study corridor that Jeff Selby and I have discussed with the City, JPUD, and State Parks, and that I have sent to WSDOT and Pope Resources. This is the area that we will ask the County to use for a feasibility study on its 2016 TIP.

The four route examples on the Map, from left to right, are:  

(1) SR20 / Fairmount -- shown with a dotted line alongside those roads.  (I'm colorblind and Dorothy is not here to help me with colors. I'll amend this post when I know what color the lines are.)  This route would be on the SR20 and Fairmount Road rights-of-way from Four Corners to Snow Creek.  Because of many extreme drop-offs on the west (downhill) side of the SR20 right-of-way over Eaglemount, I think the trail would have to run along the east (uphill) side of the highway.  I'm no engineer, but it looks to me like it would require a massive engineering project to hang a trail on the Discovery Bay side of SR20 between Anderson Lake Road and Eaglemount Road.

(2)  Anderson Lake / Fairmount -- shown with a dash-dot-dash line.  This route would cross the Jefferson Public Utility District property on Four Corners Road; run on the perimeter of Pope Resources' north section; cross Anderson Lake State Park; traverse Pope Resources' property south of Anderson Lake Road, running briefly next to the City waterline maintenance road; and then drop down to the SR20 and Fairmount Road rights-of way. 

(3)  Anderson Lake / Waterline / South Plateau -- shown with a dotdot-dash line. This route would start on JPUD's property; cut diagonally across Pope Resources' northern section; follow the City waterline up Sunset Lake Road and down Grouse Lane; cross Eaglemount Road to Pope Resources' south plateau; and connect via an existing switchback road to the SR20 and  Fairmount Road rights-of-way.  

(4)  Delanty Lake / Moa Hill -- shown with a dashed line that I'm pretty sure is red. This route would skirt Pope Resources' north section; cross Anderson Lake State Park; cross the DNR section south of Anderson Lake; run south on Pope Resources property past Delanty Lake and across Eaglemount Road; then north on Lucille M. Brown Trust property to Moa Hill. I haven't yet been in touch with anyone representing the LMBT.  

I included only these four routes on the Map because five is too many, and four is enough to show there are lots of ways to get there. 

A few more comments regarding the Map:

• I haven't (yet) included a legend on the Map because I can't find a way to create one.  I use a Mac, which isn't "supported" by ArcGIS.  Maybe that's the problem, or maybe there's a tool somewhere on the ArcGIS website which I haven't found, despite my internet research.  Dunno.  If anyone can help me, I'm asking.

• I believe that there are at least 10 routes, and many additional combinations/variations of those routes, within the feasibility-study corridor.  The four routes on the Map are only a few examples of possible routes.

• I included Gibbs Lake State Park in the study corridor because one of the stakeholders thought there was interest in connecting the ODT to Gibbs Lake.  I’ve also included Lind Road to the south because I can imagine ways to use that road to complete the link; and West Uncas Road because the PNT may use a parts of that road to access Olympic National Park. 

• I have not yet been to the City’s waterworks near City Lake, so I’ve drawn possible routes based only on map data, satellite photos, and oral descriptions.  The routes proximate to the City Lake waterworks are only guesses about what might work.  Obviously a professional study will do much better.  

• I have bushwhacked large parts of the hill/bluff/cliff above SR20  -- but not all of it.  In particular I have not walked the right-of-way section just below the City Lake waterworks so, again, at this point I’m just guessing it might work.

Presumably, all of these possible routes together with all of the other feasible routes will be the subject of a feasibility study by the County – assuming that this gets on the County’s TIP.  

We're only five days from September 22nd -- the date by which Public Works wanted information to justify including the DBET on the Public Works draft of the 2016 TIP.  At this point I think we can satisfy Public Works that there are feasible bypass routes. And I hope and expect that by the 22nd we can provide letters from the five major stakeholders (other than the County) -- Pope Resources, Jefferson PUD #1, Anderson Lake State Park, the City of Port Townsend and WSDOT -- expressing support for this link in the Olympic Discovery Trail; support for a feasibility study to be included on the County's TIP; and a willingness to participate in negotiations with the other stakeholders to try to come up with an agreed route, parts of which might cross their properties.  We'll see.

There are still five years, 343 days to go (I counted wrong in my last post), which seems like a lot of time but there's lots to do to get this done on time.  Let me know if you want to help.  

The Discovery Bay East Trail will be good for Jefferson County's economy.

A recreational trail bypass to avoid SR20 over Eaglemount would be very beneficial to the citizens of Jefferson County.  Obviously it would be safer for everyone from the County -- motorists and non-motorists alike -- to have recreational users off that section of the highway.  And a trail connection between the end of the Larry Scott Trail and the rest of the Olympic Discovery Trail would also be of great economic benefit to the County’s citizens.  Here are links an Adventure Cycling Association article – one of many describing the immense economic benefits to communities that are connected by recreational trails – entitled When Washington Bikes, It Brings Billions of Bucks: http://www.adventurecycling.org/resources/blog/when-washington-bikes-it-brings-billions-of-bucks-part-1/ (part 1);

http://www.adventurecycling.org/resources/blog/when-washington-bikes-it-brings-billions-of-bucks-part-2/ (part 2).  As reported in one of the studies cited in the Article:

• Bicycle riding is #3 in recreational activities by total expenditures in Washington state with over $3.1 billion spent statewide.

• Bicycle riding comes in as the fourth biggest recreational activity by measuring the total number of participant days occurring in Washington state.

• As compared to many activities where equipment purchases provide the significant economic impact to their activity, bicycle riders’ trip-related expenditures account for a whopping 96% of the economic impact of bicycling. This means that bicyclists like to contribute to local economies via shopping, lodgings, and eating. It underscores that bicyclists are “wallets on wheels.”

These stats are only for bicyclists.  A new recreational trail would also be used by equestrians, and by hikers, including those hiking the Pacific Northwest National Scenic Trail (PNNST) – the newest trail in the federal scenic trails system.  The PNNST now runs from the ferry dock in Port Townsend, via Highway 20 (!) to West Uncas Road at the head of Discovery Bay. As two PNNST hikers recently explained at the end of the short interview below -- videoed after they took the risky walk over Eaglemount on Highway 20 -- the economic potential for Port Townsend from the PNNST is in jeopardy because the it is not yet safely linked to the Olympic National Park:

I'm working on some maps that I will post in the next few days, showing that there are many possible routes for the PNNST that will avoid SR20 over Eaglemount.  And Jeff Selby (of the PTC) and I have also been communicating with potentially affected property owners, seeking their support for inclusion of the DBET on the County's 2016 TIP.  I'll report on that soon.

Five years, 345 days to go.  

    

Topography is no problem for the DBET.

There are multiple Discovery Bay East Trail routes that avoid Highway 20.  One is a  route that could run from the Larry Scott Trailhead, east along Discovery Road and Four Corners Road, south on Jefferson County PUD property, then southeast across Pope Resources property to Anderson Lake State Park, then south through the Park to Anderson Lake Road, west along Anderson Lake Road, south on PUD, Pope Resources and City properties past Eaglemount, then south using State and County roads and right-of-ways to the head of Discovery Bay.  Here's a Map of this possible route:

You can view an electronic version of the Map at:

http://arcg.is/1isyUiC

The Map includes layers showing the proposed trail, property owners and easements, elevations and grades, topography, satellite imagery, and the USGS topo map.  Click OK when you get the "Error" message, then click "Content" and check the boxes to see the various Map layers.


This route would be excellent for the DBET because among other things it would be:

• Away from SR20 all the way to Eaglemount Road and then again at Fairmount Road
• Mostly quiet and pleasant for pedestrians, equestrians, cyclists and others seeking a tranquil and varied trail experience
• A good arterial to more specialized trails for horsemen, mountain bikers and hikers 
• Only occasionally under powerlines
• A direct connection to Anderson Lake State Park
• Possible to connect to other trails (such as the Rick Tollefsen Trail), parks (such as HJ Carroll Park and Gibbs Lake State Park), and communities (such as the Tri-Area and Port Ludlow) 
• Compliant with County, State and Federal design and grade requirements
• A relatively direct route for non-motorized tour groups, through-hikers on the Pacific Northwest Scenic Trail, and road bikers
• A route with some stunning views of Discovery Bay  

But this is not the only possible DBET route.  I'm working with Jeff Selby of the Peninsula Trails Coalition, and others, to try to get the County, together with the other stakeholders (the PUD, Pope Resources, State Parks, the City of Port Townsend, and the Washington Department of Transportation), to do a feasibility study the DBET.  Jeff and I will soon propose to the County and the other stakeholders a study "corridor" within which several possible routes can be found.  I'll post a map of this corridor soon.  Hopefully the County will include a feasibility study of possible corridor routes in its 2016 TIP, and the stakeholders and others in the community will work together to come up with the best possible route.  

Still five years, 353 days to go, but we've got to move fast to get the DBET done on time.

Watch this video of two cyclists who rode over Eaglemount on SR20 and survived.

Jeff Selby of the Peninsula Trails Coalition and I were out scouting possible DBET routes to bypass SR20 when we ran across -- whoops, wrong words -- we met two cyclists who were returning to Port Townsend via that road.  Check out what they had to say:

You can view the full interview of these two brave riders at https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7daqXWQhRBk&feature=youtu.be.  

Here's the ditch they were talking about:

There's a sheer rock face right next to the ditch, with trees overhanging from the top of the cliff above.  Not good.

We need to get the DBET done.   Five years and 353 days to go.