Trail Path Discussed, Some Sections Still Unkown

    On Thursday, November 10, the public was treated to details regarding the development of a recreational trail from Umatilla to Astor. Dubbed the North Lake Trail by Lake County planners, the phased trail looks to create a north/south recreation corridor through the county linked to east/west trails along SR 40 in Astor and through the Golden Triangle Area.
   The focus at Thursday’s meeting, held at the Altoona School’s community room, was a section of trail running from East Altoona Road north and then northeast to Astor. Planners have been working to develop a preferred path for the trail, with those results on display Thursday.
   However, county staff attending the meeting said plans are still preliminary, and could change as the project eventually moves to the design stage. But what was presented on Thursday shows a trail running from the west side of SR 19 from West Altoona Road north to the Lake Dorr area, where at Dorrwood Lane the trail would cross SR 19 to the east side of the highway. From there, the trail would continue along SR 19 to CR 445A, where it would veer onto the south shoulder of that road and head to Astor. An additional spur on CR 445 to Alexander Springs is being discussed for a later phase of the project, or as an ‘alternative’ route. However, that trail plan ends at the recreation site, and does not continue to Astor.
   Additional aspects of the trail were up for discussion, including curbing plans, safety and guardrail proposals, and more. Included were visual displays of the trail traveling north on SR 19 from Umatilla, where the trail is conceived to run along the eastern shoulder of the highway to the Silver Beach Heights neighborhood, where it would cross onto the west shoulder at roughly Beach Street before continuing north.
   Current plans don't feature a route from CR 42 north to East/West Altoona Road, however. Gallus Quigley with Lake County on Thursday said right-of-way considerations in the area, as well as decisions on how to best cross CR 42, have left that section of the trail in an arrested development state.
   “It’s tight through there,” Quigley said of the area that includes the Altoona School and Altoona Methodist Church.