The Olmstead brothers proposed the 40‐Mile Loop trail in 1904. The trail was originally planned to be 40 miles long and circle the City of Portland. The trail has gradually expanded to include all of Multnomah County and when the loop is completed it will be approximately 140 miles in total length and connect more than 30 parks in the Portland Metropolitan area along the Columbia, Sandy and Willamette Rivers in a continuous loop. Given its much grander scale and character now, its merged into the collection of parks and trails throughout the Portland metro area known as "The Intertwine". Since the 1980’s, many cities in the Portland Metro region have been working to complete the 40‐Mile Loop. Today several gaps remain throughout the trail system. A few gaps and unimproved sections of the trail remain in the City of Troutdale.
The 40-mile Loop Trail - Blue Lake Park to NE Harlow Road project will construct segments infilling gaps in this bike and pedestrian trail through Troutdale's northern industrial area, between Chinook Landing Marine Park in Fairview and NE Harlow Road in Troutdale. This project is funded by a combination of funding from Oregon's Metropolitan Transportation Improvement Program, and contributions from partner agencies. This current project has been years in the making and involves a host of agency partners, including Troutdale, the Port of Portland, ODOT, City of Fairview, Multnomah County, Sandy Drainage Improvement Company (SDIC), Multnomah County Drainage District (MCDD), and Metro. The Port of Portland and ODOT are co-lead agencies for the project.
An existing segment of the trail was completed in 2008 running atop the SDIC levee between NW Sundial Road and NW Graham Road (near the east end of the Troutdale airport runway). This current project will install the segment from Chinook Landing Marine Park to Sundial atop the levee, and a segment along the west bank of the Sandy River from the levee at Graham Road to NE Harlow Road. This trail will ultimately connect along NE Harlow Road to the riverfront park/trail planned for Troutdale's Urban Renewal Area.
Unfortunately, ODOT ran into substantial right-of-way (ROW) acquisition delays in the Fairview segment due to a drawn out large private commercial property transaction that was occurring along the route concurrently. They were unable to acquire the desired ROW ultimately. Due to that obstacle in combination with funding constraints, the western end of the trail project was revised to end at Chinook Landing Marine Park rather than the originally planned Blue Lake Park. So for the time being, trail users that want to forge on to (or from) Blue Lake Park will have to use existing roads and pedestrian routes between Chinook Landing and Blue Lake.
The City is very excited to share that the Port and ODOT were able to finalize the design after concluding the ROW matter and revising the project limits accordingly, and commenced construction in the fall of 2023. Construction is expected to be completed over the winter for trail users to enjoy starting in the summer of 2024.
For more information, contact Travis Hultin, Deputy PW Director/Chief Engineer, at 503.674.7265 or travis.hultin [at] troutdaleoregon.gov.