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Salmonberry Trail foundation outlines Wheeler segment plans, funding and operations
Summary
The Salmonberry Trail Foundation presented a plan for a roughly one‑mile Wheeler segment, secured initial funding for a north‑end demonstration section, and outlined required operating agreements, maintenance funding and safety measures before public use.
Caroline Fitchitt, executive director of the Salmonberry Trail Foundation, told the Wheeler City Council on March 18 that the foundation and local partners are advancing plans to build a roughly one‑mile segment of the Salmonberry Trail through Wheeler and have secured funding to construct a north‑end demonstration segment.
The presentation laid out a sequence of needs before construction and opening: final design and gravel surfacing for the north end, an accessible boarding platform to coordinate with the Oregon Coast Scenic Railway (OCSR), parking and restroom facilities, and a signed operating and maintenance agreement among the foundation, the city, OCSR and other agencies. Fitchitt said the foundation expects to contract with OCSR to do some of the gravel and platform work and to coordinate volunteer maintenance and invasive species removal.
Why it matters: the Salmonberry Trail is a multi‑jurisdiction effort intended to convert rail right‑of‑way into an 82‑mile recreation corridor linking Banks, Tillamook County communities and ultimately the Portland metro region. Councilors and the presenter said the Wheeler segment could generate tourism, local recreational access and interpretive opportunities while requiring management arrangements, insurance and ongoing maintenance funding.
Fitchitt said the foundation and partners won a grant that provides $62,472 toward the demonstration segment’s construction costs, chiefly gravel and signage; the foundation reported additional matching funds and in‑kind contributions from partners. She estimated that fully building trail segments through the canyon and other complex areas averages roughly $1,000,000 per mile because of bridges, tunnels and wetlands, and said the foundation is also seeking broad state funding (a request the foundation described to legislators as about $8,000,000 for multiple segments across the corridor).
Fitchitt described the planned north‑end layout in Wheeler: a new accessible train platform on the north side of town that will also function as a trail landing, gravel surfacing for a multiuse trail alignment usually on the waterside of the rail where terrain allows, and an expanded public parking area adjacent to the railroad right‑of‑way. She said signage (safety and interpretive), restroom and trash facilities would be part of the initial public amenities and that the city already maintains restrooms that would serve users.
On safety and operations, Fitchitt said the intergovernmental body that oversees the larger Salmonberry effort requires an operating and management agreement before opening segments. That agreement — she said — will allocate responsibilities (for example, OCSR taking on periodic gravel spreading, the city taking responsibility for restrooms and trash in city limits, and the foundation coordinating volunteers and a maintenance fund). She told council members the group is considering a centralized maintenance fund and a board to approve maintenance expenditures; smaller routine tasks could be carried out by OCSR or volunteers, with larger repairs drawn from the maintenance fund.
Fitchitt described federal and state advocacy work the foundation has done: the foundation and local partners lobbied the Oregon Legislature on two topics, one of which she identified as a recreational immunity statute; she said the Oregon Senate passed Senate Bill 179 unanimously in the Senate and it now awaits action in the House and, if passed there, would go to Governor Tina Kotek for signature.
Council response and next steps: council members thanked the presenter and said staff would draft a brief resolution of support for consideration at the next meeting and would begin work on a memorandum of understanding for the Wheeler segment. Fitchitt asked for the city’s support at an upcoming Ways & Means field hearing in Astoria and said the foundation is targeting a May 31 groundbreaking/celebration for the Wheeler demonstration segment if timelines hold.
Fitchitt drew frequent questions from council and the public about maintenance after storms, parking, platform design and trail alignment; she said these items are part of the operating agreement and ongoing design work. The foundation plans additional community outreach, guided hikes and volunteer events in Wheeler as the project advances.
The council scheduled a draft resolution of support for the April meeting and said staff would circulate more detail on the proposed operating agreement and timeline.
