Salmonberry Trail Meeting in Banks April 6

BANKS, OR – Advocates of the proposed Salmonberry Trail will meet for discussion next week in Banks.

Connecting eight cities and two counties from Tillamook to Banks, the Salmonberry Trail corridor is a proposed 84-mile multi-use route following the Port of Tillamook Bay Railway, which reportedly closed after storm damage in 2007.

The Salmonberry Trail Intergovernmental Agency, which was created to manage the planning, development, and maintenance of the trail, will meet from 6 p.m. to 9 p.m. April 6 at Banks Fire District #13, 13430 N.W. Main St.

At the meeting Thursday, the agency will discuss issues related to ownership and management of the trail, as well as the status of rail banking, fundraising efforts, valley segment planning, and establishing a valley advisory committee, strategic marketing plans, and a benefit analysis study, according to project manager Dennis Wiley.

The trail has been in various stages of development since 2012, Wiley told Patch Friday, with representatives from state, county, and city government agencies all providing input and feedback to spur the project forward.

The City of Tillamook, in fact, is constructing a 1-mile section of the trail through the city as part of an Oregon Department of Transportation project to improve Highway 101, Wiley said.

“We’ve always known it would be built in small bites,” he said. “(But) the idea of linking the coast through a trail system … is too good an idea to walk away from.”

Upwards of $2 million has been donated to the Salmonberry Trail project, which has a preliminary estimated cost of $45 million.

For more information, contact Wiley at 503-986-0723, or email dennis.wiley@oregon.gov.

Photo Courtesy: SalmonberryTrail.com, Dennis Wiley