Chinook Scenic Byway Awarded $59,495 Federal Grant for Expansion, Updates and Long-Term Action Plan

The Chinook Scenic Byway was recently awarded a $59,495 grant from U.S. Department of Transportation’s Federal Highway Administration, according to a press release issued this week.  

This is one of five grants awarded in 2012 to byway organizations in the State of Washington through the National Scenic Byways Program.

The grant will fund an update to the existing Chinook Scenic Byway Corridor Management Plan (CMP) to incorporate the entire 86 miles of the Byway which follows State Route 410 from Enumclaw to Naches on the east site of Chinook Pass.

When the byway was designated an All American Road in 1998, a Corridor Management Plan was completed for the western portion of the byway. The new CMP will build on this previous effort to:

• Include the eastern section of the byway, engaging stakeholders in Cliffdell, Naches and Yakima focusing on the byway traveler benefits
• Update the CMP information for the west and central sections of the byway
• Develop a focused action plan of projects for the next ten years

Chinook Scenic Byway President Trip Hart told the Enumclaw City Council Monday night that the plan would focus on improved wayfinding signs, traveler information, visitor services, and targeted capital improvements that will make the Chinook Scenic Byway a “must see” destination for byway travelers.

The planning process will also further define the existing partnership between the Chinook Scenic Byway and the White Pass National Scenic Byway, looking specifically at the connecting road, State Route 123 through Mount Rainier National Park, to increase the overall visitor experience.  

An immediate project will be to improve signage along the byway. Over the course of the CMP, visitors can look forward to improved visitor communications, energized stakeholder support of the byway, and continued stewardship of the byway’s outstanding intrinsic resources including the national scenic treasure of Chinook Pass.

Learn more at www.chinookscenicbyway.com.