HomeMy WebLinkAboutTumalo Trail PlanPlanning and Development
799 SW Columbia
Bend, OR 97702
541/706-6100
Kristen Maze February 11, 2010
Associate Planner
Deschutes County
117 NW Lafayette St.
Bend, Oregon 97701
SUBJECT: Tumalo Community Plan
Kristen,
The Bend Park and Recreation District provides parks, trails and recreation programming for residents of
the district, which for the most part encompasses the Bend Urban Area. The Tumalo community is
located outside of the district boundary by approximately two (2) miles. However, the district does have
recreational interests that extend outside the current district boundary.
In 2002, the district and the City of Bend collaborated on the development of the Deschutes River Action
Plan. This plan identified the desire to complete the Deschutes River Trail through Bend and connect it
on both ends to destinations outside the urban area. The northern extent of the trail follows the
Deschutes River from the Bend UGB to Tumalo State Park and on to the Tumalo community.
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The 2002 design identified in the “North
Reach” above shows the trail exiting north
from Tumalo State Park on the east side of the
river. Based on our most recent field review
and analysis, we believe that it may instead be
prudent to cross the trail over the river at the
OB Riley bridge on the pedestrian walkway
and follow the west side of the river up to the
undercrossing (under US20) and on to
Riverview St. There appears to be ample
overhead clearance and enough room under
foot to keep the trail above the high water
level. This portion of the corridor is in public
ownership and eliminates the need for a new
pedestrian bridge downstream of the existing
US20 Bridge.
The district continues to work with private property owners and Oregon State Parks in an ongoing effort to
assemble a continuous publicly-owned corridor for the trail. Fortunately, the portions of the trail corridor
closest to the Tumalo Unincorporated Community are already in public ownership.
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However, there are multiple “demand” paths
rather than a singular trail and they are in an
unimproved state and not suitable for users
beyond hikers and mountain bikes. The
district would support the development of this
trail corridor between the Tumalo Community
and Tumalo State Park as a hard-surfaced
shared-use path that utilizes the current
grade-separated crossing underneath the
US20 bridge on the west side of the
Deschutes River. The Community Plan
should reflect this recreation and
transportation opportunity that will provide a
safe, non-motorized access to Tumalo State
Park (with a connection to OB Riley Rd.) as
well as potentially enhance the safety for
recreational river users that may need a safe
take-out location when they run this section of
the river.
In addition, there also appears to be a
reasonably-sized natural area with old-growth
Juniper trees on public land at the SW corner
of US20 and the Deschutes River that could
possibly be enhanced as a passive park site in
conjunction with the trail.
We hesitate to believe that this new trail/path
connection would replace the need for
additional safety crossing improvements at
Cook Ave. /US20. Rather, we see this as an
additional enhancement that will provide
mostly a recreational purpose yet give less
experienced or more cautious/vulnerable
cyclists, as well as pedestrians, the option to
travel along the river versus crossing US20 at-
grade. If implemented properly, there should
be minimal out-of-direction travel involved
versus crossing US20 from Cook Ave. to OB
Riley Rd.
If you have any questions regarding my comments, please don’t hesitate to contact me at
388-5435 Ext. 31, 948-4239 or steve@bendparksandrec.org
Steve Jorgensen
Planning Manager
Bend Metro Parks and Recreation District
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