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Thank you for inquiring about the WTGA! We invite you to join our non-profit association dedicated to the creation of the Woodland Trail. We are over 300 members strong.
The Woodland Trail
The mission of the Woodland Trail Greenway Association is to advocate for and partner in the development of a publicly-owned multiuse trail and greenway from Pioneer Park to McAlister Springs, linking the cities of Lacey, Olympia and Tumwater in Washington State.
We further advocate the development of other non-motorized connections, recognizing that it will be part of an interconnected system of trails, sidewalks, bike lanes, low volume streets, and transit in Thurston County, WA.
Please contact the Woodland Trail Greenway Association for more information: info@woodlandtrail.org
Trail
Project Status Update
Bridging the Gap
Thanks to persistent and effective work by national, state, and local elected
officials, WSDOT, Thurston County, and the Thurston Regional planning council (TRPC)
to secure federal funding, the Chehalis Western Trail (CWT) bridge over I-5 is
complete! Ground was broken for the bridge across Martin Way June 6, 2009. Additional funding is still needed for the
Pacific Avenue bridge.
Tumwater Valley Trail, Phase 1
The City of Tumwater
has converted Simmons Street to a trail connecting Tumwater Historical Park to
Falls Park. There used to be two roads
into the park, but no non-motorized connection.
Now there is one of each. Thanks
to great work and vision by Tumwater Council and Staff, this key connection is
complete!
Tumwater Valley Trail,
Phase 2
This piece of the East-West trail system starts at the pro shop of the Tumwater
Valley golf course, and it ends at T Street, just across the Deschutes River
from Pioneer Park. The WTGA partnered with the City of Tumwater to get a
$300,000 Federal grant via the Surface Transportation Program (STP),
administered by TRPC. The WTGA provided a match of 100 volunteer hours,
$3000, and numerous letters of support. This project was scheduled for design
in 2009 and construction in 2010, but the timeline is being re-evaluated.
Olympia Woodland Trail
(OWT) Phase 4a
OWT Phase 4a
connects Rowan Street in the Wildwood Neighborhood to Watershed Park at the new
roundabout on Henderson St. This piece of the trail will be built by the
developer of the Henderson St. parcel at no expense to the taxpayers.
Olympia Woodland Trail
Phase 1
Phase 1 of the OWT was completed August 7, 2007. It runs From Eastside
St. at Watershed Park to Dayton St. The WTGA partnered with the City of
Olympia to secure a $300,000 grant from the Interagency Committee for Outdoor
Recreation (IAC). We provided a grant match of $3000 and 200 hours of
volunteer labor. We also helped to prepare the grant application, and
jointly presented the proposal to the Committee. Our project was ranked
number one out of 23 statewide proposals for trail funding!
Olympia Woodland Trail
Phase 2
OWT Phase 2 runs from Dayton St. to the CWT. It was funded through a
$500,000 cooperative STP grant between the Cities of Lacey and Olympia.
TRPC administered this grant program. The WTGA offered a grant match of
$3000 and 200 volunteer hours, but the match was not required, so we are rolling
it over to the next grant opportunity. This trail segment was completed
in Fall 2007.
Lacey Woodland Trail (LWT) Phase 1
LWT Phase 1 was
completed Summer 2006. It starts at Sleater-Kinney St. and it continues
through both roundabouts on Pacific Ave. It was funded through the
aforementioned cooperative STP grant with the City of Olympia. Kudos to
the City of Lacey completing the first piece of the Woodland Trail!
Lacey Woodland Trail Phase
2
Phase 2 of the Lacey Woodland Trail will close the gap between the CWT and
Sleater-Kinney St, It will also close
the gap between the East Roundabout and Woodland Creek Park. The WTGA
partnered with the City of Lacey on an IAC grant application, creating graphics
and matching $3000 and 200 volunteer hours. We did not get that grant,
but the City of Lacey recently secured a $500,000 federal appropriation and
$1,000000 in stimulus funding to complete the trail, which will be built this
year.
Volunteer plantings
(15,000 and counting!)
As you use the trail, you may notice some small trees with stakes next to
them. The WTGA, formerly the East-West
Greenway, has been planting trees on this corridor since the early 1990’s. Starting in 2002, we cleared this entire
corridor of Scots Broom and Blackberry, and we started planting trees in
earnest. This phase is nearly complete, with over 1000 separately matted
trees and counting. Starting in Spring,
2006 we began planting diverse species at 4’ spacing in beds of 3-4” of compost
topped by 3-4” of aged cedar bark mulch.
The 2007-2008 plantings were paid for by a $148,692 grant from
TRPC. The total value of this grant
including matching labor, soil products, and plants was $260,000! This project is successful because of
generous assistance from Washington State Department of Transportation (WSDOT),
Olympia Parks, Arts, and Recreation Department (OPARD), and our awesome
volunteers who selflessly plant, weed, clear new areas, and join in the Annual
Scots Broom Conga Line and TreeLC work parties!
The Washington Native Plant Society is going to take on the last segment
of this planting project this year.
Capitol Connector
In Feb, 2008, we introduced a
plan to extend the I-5 Bike Path to the State Capitol and build a trailhead at
the intersection of 14th and Jefferson St.
With the cooperative effort of elected officials, General
Administration staff, and citizen letter
writers, this facility has been included in the plans for the new Department of
Information Services building, to be built soon.
West Bay Trail
Thanks to your vocal
support, Olympia Parks staff, and the vision of the Olympia City Council, the
West Bay Trail is now one of the top priorities for the City of Olympia! Stay tuned…
Evergreen Trail
The Evergreen State
College has been working on this trail in phases for many years. In the most recent phase, evergreen Parkway
was reduced from four lanes to two, and trails were added on both sides of the
road.
McLane School Trail
This project was
spearheaded by former Secretary of State Ralph Munro and forester Dave Pearsall.
They brought McLane neighbors, the
Department of Transportation, Thurston County Road Department and others
together to plant trees along the Evergreen Parkway corridor. Their trail through the forest passes by thousands of trees planted by
McLane school children. This trail is
part of the Capitol to Capitol Trail
Corridor. The next phase is planned to connect through Allison Springs to Mud Bay.
During the springtime, there are more than 10,000 daffodils blooming along the
McLane School trail. All of them were planted by local school children.
Capitol to Capitol Trail
Route
The Capitol to Capitol
trail is planned to connect Capitol Forest with the Washington State Capitol,
stopping at Capitol Mall and Yauger Park along the way. This corridor will use existing trails and
on-street connections to complete the route. Multiple routes are proposed, One of these routes will come down the slope
from the Capitol to Capitol Lake, circle around the lave, and continue north on
West Bay Trail. From there it will
follow streets to Grass Lake Park, where it will become a trail again. A trail connection to Yauger Park is planned
through City of Olympia property that is planned for the future library. The trail will continue on streets to the
Evergreen Trail, where it will connect to the McLane School Trail. The McLane School Trail will go down to Mud
Bay, across 101, and continue to Capitol Forest.
Dear Friends: USE THE TRAIL!!! It's the best way to show that the residents of Olympia and Lacey want this trail developed!
Many of the documents on this site are in Portable Document Format (PDF). To view those documents you will need the Adobe Acrobat(R) Reader which is available for free from the Adobe web site.
This page last updated: June 18, 2009.
Events - Work Parties About the WTGA Join the WTGA
Woodland Trail Map Recent Events Links - Resources Volunteers - Photo Album