Second phase of Peace Portal Community Trail now complete

The second phase of the Peace Portal Community Trail project is now complete, creating more options for pedestrians and cyclists passing through the city of Blaine.

The first phase of the project involved the construction of an asphalt trail along Peace Portal Drive from Cherry Street to Bayview Avenue. The second phase recently extended the trail from Bayview Avenue to Hughes Avenue.

The new stretch of trail consists of a ten-foot-wide separated, hard-surfaced pedestrian path with Americans with Disabilities Act-compliant crossings and driveways along the entire length.

“The trail is subtly transforming how people travel to and through Blaine,” said Blaine public works director Ravyn Whitewolf. “It is beautiful, convenient and safe.”

The second phase of the project was funded by the Small City Sidewalk Program of the Washington State Transportation Improvement Board (TIB). The board, which provides street construction and maintenance grants to more than 300 cities and counties in the state, granted the city $293,425 toward the second phase of the project. Meanwhile, the city contributed local funds of $32,603 towards the second phase of the project, which is eligible for funding from the city’s Transportation Benefit District.

The special taxing district was created by the Blaine city council and is used to fund transportation projects for streets, sidewalks and trails. In April 2017, Blaine voters approved a 0.2 increase in the sales tax to fund the district; the increase to the sales tax went into effect in January 2018.

Once completed, the project “will create a viable and scenic pedestrian connection from the new pedestrian crossing at the Peace Arch U.S./Canadian border crossing through the city to the southern Blaine city limits,” according to the city’s phase two grant application, submitted in August 2017.

Related to phase two are a series of improvements to Hughes Avenue. “The intersection of that street and Peace Portal Drive experiences significant truck traffic and is skewed in a way that hampers turning, creating a hazard for motorists,” said a news release from the city of Blaine. “Improvements to this area will rectify the intersection challenges, provide pedestrian facilities on the north side of the street and improve pavement so that it better holds up to truck traffic.”

The city of Blaine is currently preparing TIB application materials for phase three of the project, which will extend the trail even further, to Bell Road.

The Peace Portal Community Trail overlaps with a segment of the Coast Millennium Trail, an initiative of the Whatcom Council of Governments that seeks to create a network of trails between Skagit County and White Rock, B.C. The goal is to boost recreation, tourism, community health and economic development by promoting cycling and walking as viable modes of transportation in Whatcom County and beyond.