Highway 101 underpass to link west-east ends of trail

ODOT has a vested interested in the trail that proceeds from Fort Clatsop to the sea since a section of the path will go underneath U.S. Highway 101. The importance of this trail, and connecting Fort Clatsop with the landscape west of the Fort, has long been recognized as critically important to preserving the legacy of Lewis and Clark.

The Fort-to-Sea Trail will consist of established trailheads at the eastern and western ends of the trail, a developed overlook area on Clatsop Ridge, three major water crossings and the ODOT project to build a pedestrian crossing beneath Highway 101.

The Highway 101 underpass is designed to be a fully accessible, paved, 12'-0" wide by 10'-0" tall underpass scheduled for completion in the summer of 2005. The underpass will allow for non-motorized, bike and pedestrian users and will be fully ADA accessible. The Highway 101 underpass includes ramps to access Highway 101, an Oregon bike route, on both the north and southbound lanes. This will allow for the increased connectivity of the Fort-to-Sea Trail to accommodate bikers riding along Highway 101. The 92 foot long tunnel will have two five-foot lanes and a one-foot shoulder on each side.

"As far as I know, nobody in the state has built a pedestrian concrete culvert of this size under a state highway," said Project Leader Mike Schroeder. "We have done it for fish in streams and rivers but never for pedestrians."

The main concern of the underpass is the staging of construction and impacts to traffic along Highway 101. The project will be staged to keep two lanes of traffic open at all times. Sections of pipe will be placed into the hole and connected with concrete. Work will start in January of 2005 and should be completed by June of 2005.

"Our portion is the critical to the entire 5.4 mile trail that ends at Sunset Beach," said Schroeder. "If we don't have the tunnel people walking the trail can't get across the highway."

Click here to see photos of Segment 6 of the trail

Oregon Department of Transportation