A nearly mile-long, forest trail winding through a downtown wetland should be traversable in a few weeks, Scott Hansen of the Chilkoot Indian Association said this week.
The tribal project, conceived about 15 years ago, has seen progress in recent months, particularly due to mild weather last winter. Bare ground this spring has allowed tribal members working on the project to haul in gravel and remove trees and other debris.
A 22-foot bridge over Sawmill Creek, to be built in the coming weeks, is the last major structural segment of the trail, which runs between a parking area in the Chilkoot Estates subdivision and East Fair Drive near its intersection with Old Haines Highway.
Portions of the project that remain include signage, four trail turnouts, and a 400-foot extension that will link the trail to Deishu Drive. The Deishu extension will require permitting prior to construction, Hansen said.
Construction has included rebuilding a viewing deck that was built on a dead-end trail about 10 years ago.
Interpretive signage will include natural history information about the area gathered by Takshanuk Watershed Council’s school programs and will be written in English and Tlingit, Hansen said. “What better source than local knowledge to start with? We want to do the signage right. We’ve taken our time and have a good designer for it.”
At five feet wide, the plank and gravel trail has been designed with turns and grades that meet access standards of the Americans with Disabilities Act, Hansen said. “People are going to be able to make use of it and go the whole length of the trail.”
The .7-mile section will be able to be connected to a creekside property in the tribe’s subdivision, ultimately leading to Port Chilkoot Co. property along Major Road for a potential extension there.
Hansen said Port Chilkoot Co. still needs to create an easement for the trail to extend there. “It’s platted to the edge of (Port Chilkoot’s) property. It’s all within the tribe’s subdivision.”
Work on the trail is being done by tribal members through a force account, Hansen said.