Politics & Government

Bonney Lake City Leaders Break Ground on Fennel Creek Trail "Safe Routes" Link

The $800,000 project is funded mostly with a WSDOT grant as part of an alternative safe walking and bicycling route for students to get to Victor Falls Elementary, Mountain View Middle School, and Bonney Lake High School.

The gnomes may have had a place to hide from the chilly rain and wind Saturday morning in Bonney Lake by the Willow Brook Storm Pond, but the roughly 30 or so people who braved the elements to celebrate the groundbreaking for a mile of trail that would bridge a walking path over Fennel Creek toward Victor Falls Elementary School had to make do with umbrellas.

The upbeat spirit and enthuasiasm for what lay ahead for the Fennel Creek Trail seemed to cast a warm glow, however, in the otherwise dreary and cold morning.

Deputy Mayor Dan Swatman shared that Mayor Neil Johnson was unable to make it as he was committed to a family softball engagement, but that's what this trail project is all about, Swatman said: family.

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The city website explained the project:

This $800,000 Fennel Creek Trail link project is funded in large measure with a WSDOT "Safe Routes" grant as part of an alternative safe walking and bicycling route for students to get to Victor Falls Elementary, Mountain View Middle School, and BLHS.

Find out what's happening in Bonney Lake-Sumnerwith free, real-time updates from Patch.

Saturday's groundbreaking marked the start of the second phase of the project. The first involved constructing infrastructure, including sidewalks, on both sides of 192nd Avenue East from Bonney Lake High School to Rhodes Lake Road and to connect the existing sidewalk along 188th Avenue East via 111th and 109th Streets.

In Phase 2, a pedestrian bridge would connect the paved trail from the north to a boardwalk on the other side of Fennel Creek that then turns into gentle switchbacks up to Victor Falls Elementary, Swatman said.

The Fennel Creek Trail has been in the city's comprehensive plan document for more than a decade, he said, and though it was a long time coming, "once we can see the visible progress, we can see this dream becoming a reality."

Saturday's groundbreaking was also a celebration of the end of the Safe Routes project "and the beginning of the actual trail construction and the beginning of a much larger vision for the citizens of Bonney Lake and the visitors which we hope to share the beauty of our national environment," he said.

Swatman thanked the Fennel Creek Trail Advisory committee, current and past city council members, park board, and planning commission members, the Fennel Creek Preservation group and various consultants.

Most members of the Bonney Lake City Council were in attendance as were members of the city Park Board plus representatives from the Sumner Park Board, Beautify Bonney Lake, city employees and the Foothills trail.

This last mile under Safe Routes is expected to be completed around the first part of next year, Swatman said.

Click here to read more about the Safe Routes Project and the Fennel Creek Trail Project.


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