Springwater Corridor

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The Springwater Trail crosses over McLoughlin Boulevard (Oregon Route 99E) near the western end of the trail.

The Springwater Corridor Trail is a bicycle and pedestrian rail trail in the Portland metropolitan area in Oregon, United States. It follows a former railway line of the same name, and roughly follows the course of Johnson Creek, in its route from Boring, through Gresham, to Portland, where it connects with the Eastbank Esplanade. Much of the corridor was acquired by the City of Portland in 1990; remaining segments were acquired by Metro thereafter.^[1]

The trail is part of the Portland area's 40 Mile Loop trail system.^[2]

1 History
2 See also
3 Gallery
4 References
5 External links

[edit] History

The Springwater Division rail line was probably named for a planned connection to Springwater, Oregon.^[3]

The Portland Traction Company operated an electric rail line, which it stopped operating in the late 1980s, and abandoned the line. This was of great interest to the 40-Mile Loop Trust, a recently formed conservation effort to build a trail around Portland connecting its many parks, planned since 1904, but had made little progress. The Trust had proven effective at getting many key governmental agencies to work with each other. They called upon the Southern Pacific and Union Pacific railroads, co-owners of the abandoned line to transfer the land to the Trust. In 1990, the deal was completed, and represented a significant step in the completion of the Loop.^[4]^[5]^[6]

In 2001, a Metro advisory panel recommended using funds from a 1995 $135 million land acquisition bond to develop a trail along the Springwater Corridor, among other recommendations.^[7]

Prior to paving, much of the trail was suitable for mountain biking.^[8]

In 2003, Portland was one of 25 cities that received a $200,000 grant from Active Living by Design to promote urban planning that encourages physical activity. Some of the money was allocated to a Lents Station interpretive trailhead along the Springwater Corridor.^[9]

The last significant section of the trail was completed ahead of schedule in summer 2006, when the construction of three new bridges allowed bicyclists to reach the Eastbank Esplanade without weaving through neighborhoods and across busy streets.^[10]

In 2006, the City of Portland rejected a development proposal that did not include an easement for a greenway along the Willamette River, and would have interrupted the Springwater Trail's connectivity to downtown Portland.^[11] The easement requirement was upheld by the Oregon Court of Appeals on February 13, 2008.^[12]

The trail is gravel from Rugg Road to Boring.^[5]