Touchet Valley Trail Steering Committee/ Port of Columbia commissioners approve trail concept plan for use by engineers

DAYTON—At the Port of Columbia Commissioners meeting last week, the Touchet Valley Trail Steering Committee presented a draft trail concept plan, along with a recommendation to allow its use by Anderson/Perry & Associates, as they continue to study the feasibility of the trail and work on the preliminary design.

Eighteen stakeholders on the steering committee signed the letter of recommendation and 12 people on the committee spoke about how organizations they represent support the project, according to the Port’s Executive Director, Jennie Dickinson.

She said the Port commissioners voted unanimously to forward the Touchet Valley Trail Concept Plan to Anderson/Perry & Associates for use.

The Touchet Valley Trail Steering Committee has met monthly since mid-2019 in an advisory capacity to support the planning and implementation of the proposed multi-use trail on Port of Columbia property between the communities of Dayton and Waitsburg.

Concept plans are preliminary documents planners use to describe the possible design solutions addressing project goals, challenges and opportunities.

Dickinson said any final design and engineering plan is many months away, possibly a year away.

“We are still in the dreaming stage,” she said.