County Solutions begins stakeholder meetings, Oregon State Parks begins public outreach

The Association of Oregon Counties (AOC), a statewide organization representing Oregon counties through sharing information and developing consensus, is a key partner in facilitating the Oregon Coast Trail (OCT) planning process. Through their County Solutions program, implementation of phase I began in Sept. 2017 with stakeholder outreach, preliminary project organization and prioritization for development of trail gaps. Awarded a $100,000 Travel Oregon grant in July 2018, AOC began to execute phase II in Nov. 2018 by convening initial stakeholder group meetings for the south, central and north coast regions. This phase continues during 2019, involves developing work groups and sessions to develop and identify the best alternative solutions for each trail gap, plus work to develop statewide capacity to coordinate segment-specific trail work.

The Oregon Parks & Recreation Department (OPRD) began their first phase of the Oregon Coast Trail planning process in Oct. 2017 with their “Assessment and Scoping” phase focused on collecting information about the gap type, including both “hiking experience” and route gaps, and also identified potential design concepts that will apply to future OCT segment planning. OPRD also hosted three public open houses in Coos Bay, Tillamook and Portland in December 2018 for public input regarding the current trail conditions, gaps both in the trail and in the user experience, and to share information about the next steps to complete the Oregon Coast Trial Action Plan. The second phase,”Segment Alignment Alternatives,” starts in February 2019, and will explore design alternatives for each identified gap. Draft results and recommendations will be shared in a series of public open houses in Fall 2019. The last phase in the planning process, “Final Recommendations,” will culminate in 2020 with an Oregon Coast Trail Action Plan with how to move forward to close trail gaps.

(Info: Travel Oregon, OPRD)
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