Phase 2B of Yelm Prairie Line Trail expected to be completed next month

The City of Yelm is around a month away from unveiling the latest portion of its Prairie Line Trail, which extends the pathway over the Nisqually River.

Phase 2B of Yelm’s Prairie Line Trail extended the route over a Nisqually River trestle bridge and revamped the elevated pathway into a safe walking path for pedestrians to enjoy. Cody Colt, Yelm’s public services director, told the Nisqually Valley News that the project is projected to be completed on Tuesday, Dec. 2.

He noted the bridge is under construction right now. Colt said that rails have been removed and that prefab concrete slabs are being dropped onto the trestle.

“This will open up the bridge and give us a little stub-out into Pierce County, about 30-feet,” Colt said. “There will be a cul-de-sac on the other end, so you’ll be able to walk across the bridge into Pierce County.”

With the trail extending across the river, Colt noted there will be multiple educational signs posted throughout the path to teach about the river, the bridge, Mount Rainier and where everything in the path came from. Additionally, there will be a viewing point with binoculars for pedestrians to use and observe the views of the river and mountain.

“It’ll be cool because you’ll feel like you’re not surrounded by anything and over the water, so if you’re scared of heights, don’t go out there. It is secure and safe and has fencing around it. It will serve as a cool little lookout point that you can stand on,” Colt said. “The biggest thing is getting everyone a safe walking and biking trail is what’s important in connections. If you wanted to, on a summer day, you could get on your bike and go somewhere without having to worry about cars and traffic and that people are safe. It’s important to have that walking accessibility connection.”

Mayor Joe DePinto told the Nisqually Valley News that $2 million of the Yelm Prairie Line Trail has been paid for through grant funding — with about $400,000 of it paid for through a local match from Yelm funds.

“We’ve been excited for the Prairie Line Trail. It’s been going pretty smoothly,” DePinto said. “For the last three years, we’ve been working on this, and planning it for about four years now. We’re so close to finishing this off. Last year, we opened up the first phase of the trail.
“We’ve done a lot to make sure this is paid for by a state grant,” DePinto continued. “Our match was just 20% of that. We’re doing a lot with other sources of funds, rather than just local funds from here.”

DePinto noted that refurbishing the trestle bridge has been a process, and that the city had to go through the Department of Ecology to ensure the Nisqually River wasn’t being contaminated by construction.

“All of that is funded. All of it is paid for now. The last portion that we’re finishing up now should be completed in December. You can’t walk up there yet, but if you wait until next month it will be ready to be walked on. It’s coming along quickly. They’re out there Monday through Friday,” DePinto said. “This will go over the Nisqually River. There will be a little lookout with a glass portion where you can see the river below you, as well as some beautiful views of Mount Rainier.”

Following the conclusion of Phase 2B, Colt said Yelm will go out for funding for the final phase of the project in 2026 — which will extend the trail further into Pierce County. He said construction of the final phase would start in 2027, “if everything lines up.”

“It’s exciting. If we can get everything that we need done, we should be able to start construction in 2027 to Roy,” Colt said. “We’re actively working with Pierce County to try to bring the trail down Spanaway to connect. In theory, when it’s all said and done, you could walk to Tacoma from Yelm all on trails.”

According to DePinto, the final portion of the Yelm Prairie Line Trail will go to Roy and Spanaway to connect to their trail system. That portion of the trail is not funded yet, but DePinto said there’s been conversations with Pierce County about it. He said it sounds like the county is trying to complete the project by 2029.

“The long term goal, aside from the beauty and the fact that it’s a beautiful and walkable trail, is to get the Seattle-to-Portland (STP) bikers off our main streets and on to this trail,” DePinto said. “That’s what the big hope is. Hopefully it will be a little bit safer for cyclists as well as our local drivers here in Yelm.”

Ultimately, Colt views the Yelm Prairie Line Trail as being unique because it connects both Pierce and Thurston counties — making it the only walking trail that connects those two regions.

“It gives us one more access over the bridge. If there was an emergency, we could use that to transport some things back and forth,” Colt said. “Obviously, we couldn’t open it up to traffic, but we could get an emergency vehicle across that bridge if we did have an emergency situation.”