Centennial Trail News

Two Announcements:

• Kathryn Watanabe (Snohomish County Parks) wanted to remind all that the Centennial Trail will be having 2500 riders for BC cancer ride this Sunday, June 16th,  7am till about 4pm.  
• Be prepared for a busy trail if you go out on Sunday.
• Snohomish County Parks Events Calendar 

• Join us at the next General meeting of the Centennial Trail Coalition of Snohomish County.

June 20th, 2013 At 6:30 PM at the 

Arlington Boys & Girls Club

18513 59th Avenue Northeast, Arlington, WA

Public Welcome, Bring your questions and suggestions.
The topics for discussion will include: 

• CTCSC Needs a new Treasurer.  Are you interested?  We need all the help we can get!
• Latest updates on the The Centennial-Snoqualmie Trail.
• Updates on the Arlington section of the Centennial Trail.
• There will be a vote on the proposed increase in CTCSC membership fee.  This vote is for members only.
  • The CTCSC board has proposed raising the membership fee.  The membership fee is currently written as a part of the CTCSC Bylaws  .

Please join us.  If you have a specific question or topic you would like to add to the agenda, contact secretary@snocotrails.org

We have also created an online way to become a member:

JOIN CTCSC AS A MEMBER

http://www.snocotrails.org/donation_form/Donation_Select_form.html

Re: The Whitehorse Trail: Let Your County Leaders Know What You Would Like

CTCofSC Board members Sarah Arney and Bridget Wisniewski recently attended the Darrington Day festivities at Old School Park in Darrington.  They were promoting a letter writing campaign from local residents to promote the Whitehorse Trail.  Many of the visitors to the booth promised to send in letters of support for expanding the maintenance on the Whitehorse Trail.

As part of the Coalition's effort to promote long distance trails in Snohomish County, we are encouraging you to help us let the County Park managers and Council Members know that there is a lot of interest in improving the maintenance on the Whitehorse Trail.

Here is a sample letter and a list of people to write to:

Sample_Letter_WhitehorseTrail

Who to contact about the future of Whitehorse Trail






Because of the effort of CTCofSC and with the help of the Stillaguamish Tribe of Indians, this section of the Whitehorse trail will soon be open with new railings on the bridge.  Help us keep the momentum going and join by expressing your interest to the Snohomish County managers with a letter.




Thank you,
Centennial Trail Coalition of Snohomish County Board Members

What's Happening Next?

This drawing is a draft for a set of signs that are being developed for 7 trailheads on the Centennial Trail.  This Past Forward project is funded by Snohomish County's Economic Development program.

At the Centennial Trail Coalition meeting on March 28th, 2013, Snohomish County Parks Director Tom Teigen brought several interesting messages for the supporters of the County long distance trails.

Director Teigen emphasized that both the County Council and the Executive branch have strong support for the County Parks and for developing more long distance trails.  Snohomish County has invested $90 million in the Park system in the past 6 years.

There is a proposed draft to upgrade the restrooms at Haller Park in Arlington, one of the Centennial Trail parking and access points.  This capital investment will be a partnership with the city of Arlington.

Snohomish County is committed to the  big picture goal of combining Rail and Trails on the Eastside Trail Corridor.  This connectivity is a major aim of all the counties, and would put this trail system into the top 5 in the US, opening up the very real possibility of Federal funding programs.  This would allow leveraging local dollars into federal dollars.  It is feasible that a trail corridor will be developed connecting Pierce, King, and Snohomish Counties, all the way to Skagit County.

While the capital development funding sources are being pursued, the County Parks maintenance budget is tight, but several maintenance projects are in planning for the Whitehorse Trail.  Railings are being designed for the first bridge east of Arlington on the Whitehorse Trail.  The county parks maintenance will be experimenting with short sections of surface treatment to work towards improving the currently very loose gravel that exists just east of the Centennial Trail.  

Parks Director Tom Teigen stressed that community action and involvement though liaisons such as have been developed by the Centennial Trail Coalition of Snohomish County are the best way to advocate for the future of long distance recreation trails in the county.