Make your voice heard on plans for Council Creek trail connecting Forest Grove, Hillsboro

Looking forward to the plans for the Council Creek Regional Trail? Now is the time to have your voice heard.

The Washington County Land Use & Transportation department is hosting an online open house for the 6-mile installment, with comments being collected through May 31 at tinyurl.com/nre2vwbn . The Council Creek Trail intends to create an alternative to Tualatin Valley Highway to allow pedestrians and bikes a route between Forest Grove and Hillsboro.

The trail plan, as proposed in the open house, begins at Douglas Street in Forest Grove and ends at Dennis Street in Hillsboro, near the Hatfield Government Center TriMet MAX station.

The master plan for the trail was created in 2015, featuring a 15-mile trail between the downtown Hillsboro and the Banks-Vernonia trailhead in Banks. The trail would be built in segments, starting with 6 miles along abandoned railroad tracks between Hillsboro and Forest Grove. Trains have not used this section of the railroad since 2015.

The project also includes upgrading the bridge over Dairy Creek with a tunnel underneath in the unincorporated section between Cornelius and Hillsboro.

The trail project will be paid for by a Rebuilding American Infrastructure with Sustainability and Equity grant from the U.S. Department of Transportation, Regional Flexible Fund Allocation grants through Metro, Major Streets Transportation Improvement Program funding Washington County and transportation development taxes from the cities of Hillsboro and Forest Grove.

Construction for the East-West trail is expected to begin in summer 2026 and last through spring 2028. Then, pending funding, plans for a North-South trail would be up for consideration.

More information on the project can be found at ccrtdesign.washcoopenhouses.org .