Long-awaited Pierce County trail opens this summer. Crews install footbridge
Developments are ongoing for a long awaited trail in Parkland, which will eventually connect Sprinker Recreation Center to Pacific Lutheran University.
The Parkland Community Trail’s first phase, which first began development in 2019, broke ground in September last year, according to Pierce County’s website. Crews finished paving that first section of the 12-foot wide asphalt trail in March. That piece stretches along Yakima Avenue, from Sprinker Recreation Center to 135th Street South. The county installed a pedestrian bridge over Clover Creek on June 3. Now crews will finish the rest of the trail, from 135th Street South to Pacific Lutheran University. Trail project manager Garett Tapia estimates crews will finish that by the end of the summer, he told The News Tribune in a video call Friday.
That final section of the trail will continue down 135th Street South and Eighth Avenue Court South, across the Parkland Prairie, and ends at PLU’s southern campus, next to Washington High School and Perry G. Keithley Middle School. According to Tapia, the entire trail will be approximately 1.8 miles. In anticipation of this construction, the Parkland Prairie closed in November and will reopen with the opening of the trail later this summer. Though the first part of the trail has been completed, the public will not be able to use it until the entire trail is paved later this summer.
According to Pierce County’s website, the project will also include the installation of improved street crossings, directional signage and landscaping. Additionally, the trail will have two crossings, one on Tule Lake Road South and another at 138th Street South, where rapid flashing rectangular beacons will be installed.
The additional signage and roadside protections come as a relief to Parkland native and local realtor Michelle Garrett, who first heard of the project at its groundbreaking at Sprinker in September. She and her husband enjoy walking on trails together but often drive to spots outside the community. They are “super excited” to have the trail as a new option close to home, she said. In particular, Garrett is appreciative of the crosswalk improvements on Tule Lake Road.
“I’ll walk through PLU and walk to the Pierce County Prairie sometimes and crossing Tule Lake Road is kind of scary because there’s no crosswalk.” Garrett said in a phone call with The News Tribune. “People really don’t care about pedestrians, it seems, and even on crosswalks, people don’t pay attention. I’ve almost been hit multiple times.”
According to the Washington Department of Health’s Environmental Health Disparities Map, Parkland has a score of 9 out of 10 for “populations near heavy traffic roadways.” In an email with Washington State Department of Health, spokesperson Mike Lang explained that this stat indicates that residents in the selected census tract are, on average, quite close to high traffic roadways compared to residents in other census tracts.
Tapia shared with The News Tribune Friday that the second phase of the trail will be constructed in an area where a separate project with Pierce County Sewers is ongoing, near PLU’s South Campus. Both Pierce County’s Parks and Sewers departments share a property easement with PLU for these projects. He noted that the next big asphalt pour for the remainder of the trail will happen towards the end of June or early July.
The project, supported by grant funding, cost around $2.9 million pre-tax for construction and $800,000 for design. Following the county’s 1% for Arts Program, which mandates that publicly funded construction projects exceeding $100,000 dedicate 1% of funds to public art, the trail will also include art installations along its path. There will be celebrations at the end of the summer for the opening of the trail, though Tapia didn’t have dates to share just yet.
Residents in homes adjacent to the trail are eligible to apply for the project’s Trees for Trails program, which will supply people with up to six free trees to replace vegetation impacted by the construction. According to Pierce County spokesperson Andriana Fletcher, the Tacoma Tree Foundation under its Green Blocks Parkland project will manage that effort. Residents can choose between ten different species of trees. The county will deliver those trees and offer free planting assistance and maintenance supplies. Applications for the service will close September 7, 2026.
