Latest news with #FoothillsRails-to-TrailsCoalition
Yahoo
15-05-2025
- Sport
- Yahoo
Popular Pierce County footrace crossed now-closed Fairfax Bridge. What now?
A popular Pierce County footrace has had to adjust in the wake of the State Route 165 Carbon River Fairfax Bridge closure. The Washington State Department of Transportation permanently closed the 103-year-old bridge on April 24 due to safety concerns. The bridge led to key areas of Mount Rainier National Park – including the starting point for the annual, 50-mile Rainier to Ruston Relay. With only 44 days before the June 7 event, organizers had to scramble to re-route the entire event. 'Runners thought we knew something before they did, but we didn't, so we started getting some emails and it's like, 'What do you do? You have to pivot,'' said Sabrina Seher, the race director. 'It's not ideal to have to basically reroute an entire course for 1,600 runners.' Rainier to Ruston has been running for 22 years and supports the nonprofit Foothills Rails-to-Trails Coalition. It normally starts from the base of Mount Rainier and finishes at Marine Park on Ruston Way in Tacoma. Now there are 12 segments of the run, starting in Carbonado and running through Wilkeson, South Prairie, Orting, Puyallup, Fife and Tacoma. Seher said some of the biggest changes they implemented when rerouting the event included adding a segment, Lincoln Loop, in an industrial area of Fife. She also said they added a second segment in Tacoma, which normally only had one. The first Tacoma segment spans from Lincoln Avenue to War Memorial Park. Runners will then go from War Memorial Park to the finish line near the Lobster Shop on Ruston Way. 'The City of Tacoma, we had a Zoom meeting right away, and they said, 'We're very familiar with this race and this organization – we're happy to support you,'' Seher said. Seher also said they added an exchange in Orting, which will allow for new parking. Rerouting the race in 44 days involved a lot of mapping, exploring and calling officials, Seher said. 'There's basically two of us that went back and forth a lot, looking at maps,' Seher said. 'It has to make sense, so runners aren't confused, and then once we have the ideas, we go back and then we make the maps. Then we send them to whoever we need to talk to and stress the urgency of needing some kind of solution – and apologize for needing an urgent solution.' Here is a breakdown of all 12 legs. Leg 1: Carbonado to Wilkeson, 3.4 miles Leg 2: Wilkeson to South Prairie, 4.1 miles Leg 3: South Prairie to Crocker, 4.6 miles Leg 4: Crocker to Orting, 3.7 miles Leg 5: Orting to McMiliin, 3.4 miles Leg 6: McMiliin to Meeker, 4.2 miles Leg 7: Meeker to Puyallup, 4.3 miles Leg 8: Puyallup to Fife, 4.7 miles Leg 9: Fife to Lincoln Loop, 3.2 miles Leg 10: Lincoln Ave to Tacoma, 2.7 miles Leg 11: Tacoma to War Memorial, 6.5 miles Leg 12: War Memorial to Ruston, 6.5 miles Runners can look at an interactive map of the full route at They can also visit the event's website at 'We're just excited, whatever comes out of this,' Seher said. 'We are happy to pivot so that runners can still have a great experience.'
Yahoo
09-04-2025
- General
- Yahoo
All 24 miles of this popular Pierce County trail will soon be open for the first time
Crews started construction on Monday to replace a major bridge on the Foothills Trail, and the county estimates the trail will fully reopen by July 1. In July 2023, a routine inspection found damage on the top chord of the Spiketon Ditch Bridge on the section of the trail between South Prairie and Buckley. Citing a threat to public safety, Pierce County closed the bridge in November 2023 and it was subsequently demolished in June. The closure has caused significant disruption to the Foothills Trail for over a year due to the lack of a detour for pedestrians or cyclists to reach the other side of the path. An engineering report found that the wood bridge suffered extensive pest and water damage during its 15 years of operation, according to Pierce County's website. Ted Yoder, the bridge's project manager with Pierce County, told The News Tribune that the new bridge will be made of hot-dip galvanized steel and concrete, incorporating a pin and panel design similar to a bridge on Pioneer Way East. Yoder said the new design is built for a 70-year lifetime, protects against pests or other environmental damage and will be quick and cost effective to build. 'If a tree happens to fall on one or even on two of the sections, you can remove the damage to replace, as opposed to the whole bridge being fully damaged and possible collapse,' he said. The County awarded a $1.084 million contract to Ceccanti, Inc. to construct the bridge. Added to other associated design, mitigation and consulting costs, the total cost of the project is expected to be about $1.4 million, Yoder said. He added that the county reallocated funds from the Park Sales Tax fund to the Paths and Trails Construction fund to finance the project. In September 2024, the total length of the trail — which reaches just outside of Pierce County — was extended to 24 miles with the opening of the Foothills Bridge over the White River. Yet, the Spiketon Ditch Bridge closure has limited the advantage of that opening, said Breanna Fokes, executive director of the Foothills Rails-to-Trails Coalition. 'Trail users have yet to experience the benefit of that White River Bridge and being able to do all 24 miles in one trip,' Fokes said. 'I know everybody is just really excited about that.' Fokes said trail maintenance can be challenging, adding that she is thankful to Pierce County for recognizing the need to expedite the bridge's construction. The Foothills Rails-to-Trails Coalition has also partnered with Pierce County Parks & Recreation in recent years to assist with trail maintenance through volunteer work parties from March to October. The latest event, which will focus on the planting of two hundred new trees to create shade along a section of the trail, will be on April 26. Although there is no safe detour to cross Spiketon Ditch, once the bridge is complete, the Foothills Trail should be fully open until other projects scheduled for 2026 begin, said Pierce County Trails Planner Travis Curry. He noted that the county plans to replace the trail's Ski Park Bridge but hopes to identify an official detour to avoid closing the trail during construction. 'We're just really excited about completing this project to get the full length of the trail back open and fully accessible to the public right as prime biking, walking and rolling season starts,' Curry said. '... We're really proud of how we were able to pull our resources together to find a solution and get it done in such a short window.' The county needed a damage report, and had to go through design and permitting processes before construction could begin. Andriana Fletcher, Pierce County public information specialist, said the public can visit the project website at for updates.
