When the Portland to Oregon City railroad opened in 1893, Milwaukie and Gladstone – two cities that eventually developed along the track - were not even towns.
The new line connected Portland, Milwaukie, Gladstone and Oregon City, and for years ran freight trains and streetcars, helping communities along the route grow into towns and prosperous cities.
Now, forty-three years after the last freight train arrived in Portland and more than half a century after the last passengers stepped off the streetcar, an updated pathway - the Trolley Trail, a six-mile bike and pedestrian path, - will break ground on March 22. The trail follows the part of the historic line that ran between Milwaukie and Gladstone and connects local neighborhoods, schools, parks, retirement communities and business districts.
The groundbreaking takes place at 11 a.m. at Stringfield Family Park, which is along the trail at 3614 SE Naef Rd., off SE McLoughlin Boulevard.
The trail will open as soon as fall 2011 but its 118 year transformation from active railroad to paved path hasn't been nearly as quick.
After the Portland to Oregon City streetcar closed in 1958, freight trains used the tracks for another decade. By 1968, most of the rails were removed as the route fell out of use and into disarray.
Since the 1970s, there has been consistent interest in turning the right-of-way into a walking and cycling path. Trail supporters got their wish in 2001, when Metro and the North Clackamas Parks and Recreation District used funds from Metro's first natural areas bond measure to buy the historic right of way. It was a long overdue purchase.
"Metro listed this as a future trail in 1992, and the Columbia Region Association of Governments listed it in 1971, so we've been working on it for a long time," Metro regional planner Mel Huie said. "This trail is part of the 2040 Growth Concept plan, regional transportation plans and local trail plans. It's in nearly every existing plan we have."
Huie should know, as he has worked on the route for more than 23 years, and his family's connection to it goes back even further; they rode the streetcar before he was born.
"My parents lived in Gladstone but they worked in downtown Portland so they would take the streetcar to work every day," Huie said. "It's funny because now I'll be using it as a trail after my parents used it as transit."
After years of public input, studies, planning, surveying, re-planning and securing funds, the trail will finally be ready for passengers again.
The Trolley Trail will eventually combine with other regional trails to make a 20-mile loop between Portland, Milwaukie, Gladstone, Oregon City and Gresham. Trolley Trail partners include the cities of Milwaukie and Gladstone, Clackamas County and Oak Lodge sanitary and water districts. Community partners include the citizen-based Friends of the Trolley Trail, and various neighborhood associations and civic groups.