Path connects port to river

Freshly poured concrete is connecting east Clark County to the Columbia River in new ways as work advances on the new waterfront park and trail at the Port of Camas-Washougal.

With a large plaza overlooking the river as its centerpiece, the nearly 6-acre Washougal Waterfront Park and its 0.7-mile trail at A and Second streets feature a nonmotorized boat ramp and shoreline access as it winds along previously private and currently vacant port land.

Work is expected to wrap up by the end of the year on the project, though folks are already taking advantage of new benches and admiring other amenities as construction on the grounds continues.

Plans for the park were launched more than five years ago.

The state Recreation and Conservation Office provided a $1.7 million grant for the $2.6 million development. The port, which picked up the rest of the tab, signed a contract for the project last summer with Tapani Inc. of Battle Ground.

“As Washougal transitions from the past, with its dairies, mills and fishing, into a growing residential community that borders one of the nation’s most scenic areas, the port intends to help preserve the natural attractions of the community, and improve its connections with and access to the river, while acting as a catalyst for economic development,” reads the master plan prepared by BergerABAM of Vancouver.

Port tenants and a commercial and retail development on land owned by Killian Pacific could one day border the park, just upstream of the port’s headquarters and its popular marina.

Eventually, the trail will connect to a trail the city of Washougal is building, allowing for an 18.5-mile system of trail from the Steigerwald Lake National Wildlife Refuge to the top of Lacamas Lake.