Council Creek Regional Trail Design Services

Washington County Department of Land Use & Transportation (LUT) has been awarded a $1,500,000 Regional Flexible Funds Allocation (RFFA) grant from Metro, including a 10.27 percent local match (MSTIP Opportunity Fund approved for $154,050), for Preliminary Design of the Council Creek Regional Trail (CCRT) between Hillsboro and Forest Grove. This project will build on the Master Plan that was completed in 2015 and will be a next step continuation of that work. The intent of this funding is to complete sufficient design (30%) to pursue additional required funding to finalize design and complete construction. The project will collect data necessary to complete preliminary design for a preferred trail alignment. An alternatives analysis will consider how to best accommodate potential future transit within the corridor. It is anticipated the trail would be constructed on and within the existing 60-foot wide Railroad corridor. Utilizing the existing railroad corridor is anticipated to reduce environmental impacts. The project will need to address stormwater runoff, which has been identified as a key environmental issue through the Master Plan work. The project will also consider wetlands, flood plain and potential species habitat issues, but it is anticipated that these will be less significant since the project will be built within an existing railroad corridor. Part of this project will be to obtain a more detailed description of the necessary permitting. Some initial review of permitting was done as part of the Master Plan work.