Jefferson County Non-Motorized Trails Plan
Jefferson County Public Works Department, Port Townsend, Washington

We completed a countywide non-motorized transportation plan for the Jefferson County Public Works Department and Parks & Recreation Division.

County Commissioners wanted to develop an integrated countywide system of on and off-road trails that would provide commuter and recreational benefits to the scattered urban areas in Port Townsend, Chimacum, Port Ludlow, Quilcene, and Brinnon. In particular, Commissioners wanted to use the trail plan to better integrate the significant inventory of state parks, forestlands, and tidelands with county communities and tourist destinations.

Our planning process conducted a series of workshops, public forums, and open houses with trail users and interest groups, community officials, and private property owners and facility operations in 4 community areas across the county. Using the workshop concepts, we developed integrated trail project proposals for state, county, city, and other jurisdictional lands, including private property, on a countywide basis. One of the innovative features of the plan was a proposal to identify and preserve rural county back roads as scenic shared bike touring corridors.

We also developed a comprehensive financing strategy involving traffic and park impact fees, an optional vehicle licensing tax, and a Recreation Service and/or Metropolitan Park District (MPD) management entity.

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