Creating a pathway for urban trails
City passes plan to expand
walking opportunities
By GORDON WEEKS
gordon@masoncounty.com
Imagine a forest path that winds
along Shelton Creek from behind the
Shelton Library and climbs into the
Mountain View and Northcliff neigh-
borhoods.
Envision an expanded Huff 'n Puff
Trail, a pedestrian-friendly link be-
tween the Angleside neighborhood
and downtown Shelton, and a path
designed for school children and oth-
ers from the Hillcrest neighborhood
to the downtown.
Those are the four proposed paths
being given top priority in Shelton's
2013 Community Trails Plan, which
culminates a yearlong effort by the
city's Park and Recreation Advisory
Committee.
The Shelton City Commission on
Monday passed the final draft of the
plan at a work study session. The
trails plan becomes part of the city's
Comprehensive Parks and Recre-
ation Plan -- established in 2008 --
and the city of Shelton Comprehen-
sive Plan.
The plan contains few details on
the trails themselves, City Parks and
Recreation Director Mark Ziegler told
the commissioners at their Dec. 23
meeting, when the plan was passed
on its preliminary reading.
"This is an initial road map to get
us down the road," he said.
The plan points out that "a number
of smaller, informal trail systems link
many of the city's neighborhoods with
the downtown area, and with natural
features such as creeks. A majority
of these trails occur on private prop-
erty."
As for formal urban trails, the city
lists only four: the half-mile Ravenna
Journal photo by Gordon Weeks
In the city of Shelton's Community Trails Plan adopted Monday, the proposed trail that is getting top priority is
formalizing an existing trail along Shelton Creek that begins at Seventh and Laurel streets -- behind the Shelton
library -- and climbs into the Mountain View and Northcliff neighborhoods,
Trail, the half-mile Shelton Creek
Trail, and pedestrian paths on Olym-
pic Highway North and at Brockdale
and Spring roads.
"There's not a great inventory
of community trails," Ziegler said.
"There are lots of informal trails."
Some of the recommendations are
shaped by the 136 responses to a city
survey that was mailed with city util-
ity bills in March.
In the survey, residents rated
neighborhood parks and community
trails as the top two priorities. The
top three choices for new trails link
the Shelton Timberland Library and
Mason General Hospital, downtown
Shelton and Angleside, and Seventh
Street and U.S. Highway 101 along
Goldsborough Creek.
In the survey, respondents were
asked to rank the importance of nine
types of trails. The highest priority
was fitness, followed by sidewalks,
nature, walking roadsides, making
connections, biking roadsides and
water access. Ranking last in impor-
tance was equestrian use.
The survey showed that side-
walks" have the most daily use at
35 percent, followed by nature and
walking roadsides tied at 21 per-
cent. Of the respondents who said
they rarely or never use city trails,
49 percent said no trails are near
their house, and 45 percent say not
enough trails are nearby. Thirty-
nine percent said they don't know
the location of trails.
See TRAILS on page A-8
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Mason County Journal - Thursday, Jan. 2, 2014 - Page A-3
