Meeting reviews options for multi-use path

By Nicole Montesano

Smoke Signals staff writer

A multi-use path from Grand Ronde Road to Spirit Mountain Casino, enthusiastically approved by Tribal members in a 2018 advisory vote, is still moving forward, Tribal Engineering & Community Development Department Manager Ryan Webb said in a community meeting Wednesday, Aug. 12.

Webb and Nick Gross, project manager for contractor Kittelson & Associates, reviewed the options that have been discussed since a similar meeting in May.

 Webb also provided a brief history of the project.

“In 2021 we applied for an ODOT grant that helped us look at the feasibility,” he said. “It took us a couple years to get an agreement in place, working with ODOT and the federal government. … In 2023, we got the money. In 2025, we actually got the agreement so we could start spending those dollars and the Tribe hired Kittelson & Associates.”

Webb held a meeting in May to solicit feedback as he and the architect began exploring different options. The August meeting was intended to show how things have developed since then and to solicit additional comments.

According to Webb, by the end of the year Kittelson will submit a conceptual plan with a preferred route and alignment and a rough cost estimate. With that in hand, the Tribe will seek grant funding for the formal design and engineering phase. Once that is complete, the Tribe will seek grant funding for actual construction.

Breaking the project into smaller pieces makes it easier to obtain funding since the Tribe needs to ask for smaller amounts of money, rather than the entire cost up front, Webb said.

Gross explained that the tentative plan is to start the trail either near Chachalu Tribal Museum & Cultural Center or the former Grand Ronde Rail Depot and run it along the old railroad tracks to the casino parking lot, ending near the Tribal gas station. Amenities at the trailheads might include such things such as maps, signs, bicycle racks, bicycle fixing stations, benches and possibly a water fountain on Grand Ronde Road.

The trailheads will also offer opportunities for “cultural heritage recognition” items, Gross said. 

There were 10 “most critical elements” that he and Webb were seeking comment on. These included whether the starting trailhead should be at the former train depot or by the museum, the need to widen sidewalks along Grand Ronde Road and move utilities to accommodate the path, clearing vegetation within the former railroad corridor, whether to cross the South Yamhill River and how to protect users along the elevated section of railroad grade east of Jahn Road.

They also included whether the frontage road on the north side of the highway, across from the casino, should include a separate path or if the path should go into a shared-use frontage road. Additionally, where the path should cross the highway and end on the casino’s property, the need to put in a small bridge to cross the drainage ditch by the casino and ending trailhead locations.

The trail will need to cross Highway 18 at some point, most likely via an overpass. Webb said that might also be an opportunity to create a distinctive bridge featuring Tribal cultural art or designs.

Six people, including Tribal Council members, community members and adjacent landowners, spoke about the project and asked questions. Safety lighting for the path was requested. Webb promised that “there will be illumination for the whole path.” Another commenter was upset about the need to clear vegetation.

Webb said it is “mostly invasive,” but added that landscaping with native species is planned.

“We work closely with Jeremy Ojua (Tribal Native Plant Nursery Supervisor) and the Native Plant Nursery, to make sure we get native plants and also that they’re coming from here and this path would follow that,” he said, adding that path will accommodate disability aids such as motorized wheelchairs.

One man asked whether the project management team was considering a tunnel, rather than a bridge over the highway. Webb said tunnels were discussed, but are less practical, in part because Grand Ronde has a very high water table and because tunnels tend to be more expensive. An overcrossing, Webb said, must be engineered to support the weight of pedestrians, bicycles and other typical equipment used on multi-use paths. A tunnel, however, must support the entire weight of the traffic passing above, including semi-trucks pulling fully-loaded trailers.