The Touchet Valley Trail in rural southeastern Washington might happen after all.
Years after two members of the Port of Columbia Board of Commissioners shelved the project, the proposed path between Dayton and Waitsburg is now a focus for two newer commissioners who say it would draw recreationalists and other visitors while offering a safer route between the cities for non-drivers.
Supporters of the Touchet Valley Trail point to other cities — Spokane and Coeur d’Alene, Idaho; Pullman and Moscow, Idaho; the Tri-Cities — that have built popular community-connecting trails and enjoy the economic rewards.
“We’re way behind other communities,” said Joy Smith, who served on the Touchet Valley Trail steering committee and is on the Waitsburg Commercial Club executive board.
Having a 9.7-mile Dayton-to-Waitsburg trail would also mean walkers and bicyclists could avoid using the treacherous shoulder of U.S. 12.
The Touchet Valley Trail is a key piece of the Blue Mountain Region Trails Plan, which envisions a system of new, improved and existing trails, paths, bike lanes and sidewalks in Columbia and Walla Walla counties and Umatilla County, Oregon.
The comprehensive plans of the Port, Columbia County and the cities of Dayton and Waitsburg all mention the trail, which routinely ranks as a top priority for attendees of the Port’s annual Comprehensive Economic Development Strategy meeting.
The Port owns the property that the Touchet Valley Trail would cut through — the Columbia-Walla Walla Railway corridor — and, for years, managed the trail project.
However, after several years of public meetings and community outreach — after the Port had obtained grants and the design work had begun — a backlash began to brew.
Some landowners along the proposed path objected to a trail being built near their property. Some critics said they feared a trail would draw unsavory travelers, become a setting for drug use and illegal camping, a maintenance headache and a safety hazard.
In 2021, two new Port commissioners were elected — Seth Bryan and Johnny Watts — and, in April 2022, they voted 2-1 not to pursue additional state funding for the trail, effectively freezing the project.
Watts remains a sitting commissioner, but Bryan did not seek reelection. Voters elected Scott Hudson, who ran unopposed, into Bryan’s seat. He and Chair Mike Spring have said they support the trail.
Now, the three commissioners — two pro-trail, one anti-trail — are updating the Port’s comprehensive plan. To proceed with the project, the Port board must change the Comp Plan to state that the Port will build the trail, according to Executive Director Jennie Dickinson.
They must also direct Dickinson to seek funding to complete the design. In addition, the trail must be put back into the Port’s capital facilities plan to let people know the Port plans to spend money on it.
The commissioners have said they want to hear from the public to see how much support the trail really has. In an interview, Dickinson said, so far, she has not heard any new objections to the trail since the Port board took up the issue a few months ago.
Darlene Shook, a longtime Dayton resident and property manager at the Port’s Blue Mountain Station — behind which the Touchet Valley Trail would run — said she thinks the trail is a wonderful idea. When she worked at a nearby hotel, she saw yearly bike travelers pass through the city.
“Our little town needs the tourism, whether we want it or not,” she said.
