The City of Maple Valley, in coordination with King County, made improvements to
the Cedar to Green River (a.k.a. Lake Wilderness) Trail south of Kent Kangley Rd.
(SR 516). The local contractor, MVG LLC (Earl Souchez), started work on the project
in September, and the 1.4-mile of new trail improvements were dedicated on Wednesday,
October 26, at approximately 5:30 p.m. The project was designed by PACE engineers
under the oversight of the City of Maple Valley Public Works Department. The King
County Department of Natural Resources & Parks and the King County Roads Division
worked together to manage and oversee the project construction.
The project trail improvements start at Kent Kangley Road (SR 516) and extends to
just shy of the Burlington Northern/Santa Fe Railroad crossing, a little over a
mile in total length. The improvements provide a 10-foot wide compacted gravel multi-purpose
trail on the abandoned Columbia and Puget Sound Railway right-of-way (now King County
Parks right-of-way). At the southerly terminus of the project, the trail will connect
to the existing trail within the Glacier Valley residential neighborhood, which
runs parallel to the railroad right-of-way. Other project elements include asphalt
paved section coming south off of the Kent Kangley crosswalk and asphalt paved transitions
to the sidewalks connecting to SE 276th St. and SE 280th St. (where trail traffic
is directed to the intersection crosswalks at Maple Valley Hwy.). The project is
an extension of the King County Cedar to Green River regional trail and will provide
a finished trail through the majority of the city limits.
The City of Maple Valley was able to utilize a State Enhancement Grant of $148,000
and King County Expansion funds to pay for the project. Originally in 2004, the
City had planned to use the grant funds to design a bridge crossing of the Burlington
Northern railroad tracks at the southern end of this project. However, in 2009 it
was determined that the funds would be better used to make the existing trail south
of Kent Kangley actually useable rather than design a $5 million bridge that may
never be built.
At the ribbon cutting ceremony, Mayor Noel Gerken thanked all those who helped make
the project happen. Monica Leers, with the King County Department of Natural Resources
& Parks, also chimed in and thanked the city for the coordination efforts with the
county and for all those who voted for the King County Expansion Levy in 2007. The
Glacier Valley Elementary School Green Team kids were there in support of the project
and will be adopting a portion of the new trail improvements to keep it clean.
Pictured: Ribbon cutting time for the recently completed Cedar to Green River Trail
Expansion project was enhanced by the presence of the Green Team kids - Michael
Murphy, Elizabeth St. John, Corrine Nelson, Markus Dawson, Cole Broadbent, Carolyn
Quevedo, Addison Cambia, Cody Pinchin – from Glacier Park Elementary along with
their teacher/adviser, Cathy Haws.
