Twenty-two years after the first mile of riverfront trail was paved, the loop is finally closed. City and county officials cut the ribbon Wednesday morning on the 3.4-mile southern extension, and roughly 300 cyclists immediately set off to ride the full 22-mile circuit for the first time.
The extension threads the trail through the valley’s restored floodplain forest, crosses the river twice on new pedestrian bridges, and connects four neighborhoods that previously had no off-street route downtown.
Two decades, three mayors, one lawsuit
The project outlasted three mayoral administrations, a rail-corridor lawsuit that froze construction for four years, and a funding gap that was finally closed with a mix of federal transportation grants and a county green-bond issue approved by voters in 2023.
County executive Priya Raman called the opening “proof that boring persistence is a civic virtue.” The final price tag came to $19.6 million, about $4 million over the 2019 estimate — most of it attributable to the bridge redesigns required after the 2024 flood study.
What riders will find
- Two new pedestrian bridges with fishing overlooks
- A trailhead at Dorwin Avenue with parking, restrooms and a repair station
- Native wildflower plantings along 1.8 miles of restored bank
- Mile markers tied into the county’s 911 location system
Parks officials expect heavy use this holiday weekend and are asking riders to treat the new boardwalk sections as single-file zones. A full trail map is available at every trailhead kiosk, and the county says a printable version will be posted to its site next week.
