Funding awarded for Larson trail link

Trail completion planned over next few years

MOSES LAKE — More than 5,000 walkers and bikers in the Larson subdivision north of Moses Lake can't safely access services in the city of Moses Lake, but a planned trail connection intends to change all that.

A federal grant received by Grant County last month will provide the 1.8-mile link between the trail system in the Larson Subdivision neighborhood and the system in the city of Moses Lake. Grant County Director of Public Works Derek Pohle said residents in both the city and unincorporated Grant County neighborhood have existing trails systems, "but there's a gap, so we're trying to fill that gap," he said.

The county was awarded $192,000 through a federal transportation enhancement grant, one of six projects awarded a grant in the regional transportation planning organization known as QUADCO. The QUADCO organization represents Adams, Grant, Kittitas and Lincoln counties.

The trail will be a combination of sidewalk and path, which Pohle said will provide the safe route beyond the pedestrian barrier of Highway 17. Pohle said that's why the city and county have been planning the link, which he said would allow walkers and bikers access to places like the Lauzier ball fields without a car to take them. He said the trail will act as a pedestrian link for the 5,000 to 6,000 people who live and work in the area.

The entire project is expected to cost approximately $250,000 through grant funding and county paths and trails funds. Including design work and construction, Pohle said the project is expected to be completed in about two years.

Pohle said the project was initially talked about by the city's trails planning team to build a pedestrian link across the highway and into the Larson area. Approximately 90 percent of the trail will be in the county for a route which will begin at a cul-de-sac on Loring Drive near Road I, and end at the intersection of Grape Drive and Highway 17. The route itself is still to be decided, and Pohle said the county is currently considering two options for the route.

"The goal was to find some way for alternate forms of transportation to driving, to have some link with the Larson area and the city of Moses Lake," Pohle said.

Another Moses Lake project, a half-mile trail along Wanapum Drive, received $100,000 in funding through the same grant funding approval.

The half-mile Wanapum Trail is part of a planned three-mile loop around the peninsula area of Moses Lake, with the Wanapum portion to be constructed this year. QUADCO chair and Moses Lake city engineer Gerry McFaul said there was a concern with Wanapum that there is no safe route for people to walk, and the Wanapum trail will provide a 10-foot asphalt trail. He said the city's goal is to eventually build a trail loop around the entire peninsula.