Residents see first trail built in northern Bellingham

A long awaited goal is becoming a reality for residents as construction starts on the area's first official trail.

After years without any parks or developed green space, residents of the Guide Meridian/Cordata Neighborhood will no longer have to leave their neighborhood in order to bike a trail, as the community sees the development of their first trail begin next week.

Razz Construction, winner of the bid to develop the trail for $565,270, will break ground and begin the process of cutting down trees and setting up erosion control May 3, Parks and Recreation Project Engineer Gina Gobo said.

Gobo said the trail is the first stage of the overall park development plan and is estimated to be completed by November.

Julie Guy, a co-founder of the neighborhood association, said once the trail is finished it will provide the community with developed green space where they can gather and enjoy the outdoors.

“We are known as the ‘greenless’ area in Bellingham,” Guy said. “We want to connect with the rest of the neighborhood and have a place for recreation but we have nothing but sidewalks now to walk on and the kids have no place to play except in the street.”

The Proposed Plan

According to the Cordata Park Master Plan, the trail will be half a mile in length and stretch from Horton Road to Cordata Parkway through a wooded and undeveloped 27-acre parcel of land. Originally purchased as 20 acres in 2007, an additional parcel of 7 acres was transferred from Whatcom County in 2008.

Gobo said the trail will not be the main trail after the park is completed, but will instead be a narrow secondary trail. Main trails are built 10 feet wide, but the current trail will be about 6 feet wide.

As for accessibility, Gobo said all parks and trails are developed with accessibility in mind and according to state and Federal Highway Administration standards. They plan on later developing a combination of pathways that meet the guidelines of the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA).

Gobo said a major part of the design plan includes protecting wetlands within the park boundaries.

“It’s a pretty wet site,” Gobo said. “There are only about 6 acres out of the initial 20 acres that are actually buildable because of all the wetlands.”

Other natural features include streams that Gobo said will need to be crossed by two bridges, one spanning 60 feet and the other spanning 96 feet.

As with all trail developments in the city, Gobo said the trail through Cordata Park will not include lighting, although there will be designated areas for benches which will be purchased through community donations.

Neighborhood Concerns

Guy said that she and other residents living near the trail would have preferred lighting on the trail and have raised the question at neighborhood meetings of whether a trail development would lead to an increase in crimes such as robberies.

Mark Young, Bellingham Police Department spokesman, said the development of a trail itself does not spark an increase in crime. An increase would instead depend on how the trail is developed and factors such as intended use, accessibility, visibility and character of the community in which it is built.

“If trails are done properly, they create mobility and movement, but if done improperly they could create the risk of criminal enterprise,” Young said. “That said, it’s more about the population that uses the area and the number of people who use the area than it is about the trail being developed.”

Originally proposed in the first stage plan was a connection between the trail and Birchwood Presbyterian Church, which is located at the end of Meadowbrook Court, but due to funding, Gobo said the connection is being put on hold and will not be completed during this early stage of building.

Guy said although she is concerned over part of the plan not being followed through with, the trail will still be a positive addition to the community.

“[The neighborhood] is so spread out it can be hard to meet people, and if you meet someone on the sidewalk, there’s no place to sit and chat,” Guy said. “We are in desperate need of a gathering place.”