Projects improve access to national forest area.

Byline: Matt Cooper The Register-Guard

McKENZIE BRIDGE - Two projects along Highway 126 will offer sweeping new views of the McKenzie River and better access to a popular trail, in an effort to enhance the experience of travelers along this scenic byway.

A rock masonry viewpoint is under construction about six miles east of the McKenzie River Ranger Station, which is about two miles east of town.

Safety and access improvements are also under way at the McKenzie River National Recreation Trail trailhead, just west of the ranger station. The work will make the area more inviting for Eugene-Springfield motorists heading east and anxious to reach the Willamette National Forest.

"They'll be looking at their maps, saying, 'When are we going to get into the forest?' ' said Stacey Smith, the ranger station's scenic byways coordinator. The trailhead is "right about the time they enter into the national forest land. It's a chance to stop and just get a sense of the river, stop and stretch your legs."

The ranger station is the portal to two scenic byways: McKenzie Pass-Santiam Pass, a 90-mile loop along Highways 126, 20 and 242 through the central Oregon Cascade Mountains; and West Cascades, a 215-mile stretch from Estacada to Oakridge, along Highways 224, 22 and 126.

Travelers seek scenic byways out because the meandering roads highlight the variety of landscapes found in national forests, so it was appropriate to make improvements at these two spots along the way, Smith said.

The viewpoint, which is on the west side of Highway 126 just north of the junction with Highway 242, will "get people off the highway just a few feet," Smith said. "You walk through a little bit of forest and get in that riverine environment."

The viewpoint, accessible to people with wheelchairs or canes, also will feature a paved parking area, a footpath and a trail-bridge.

At the trail head, workers are paving the parking lot, improving the safety for motorists entering or exiting the highway and adding walkways and information panels, Smith said. The trail head will be closed during weekday construction periods until the beginning of June, although it will be open most weekends and holidays.

A roadside riparian area will be restored with a large amount of vegetation, reducing runoff of highway pollutants into the river, she added.

Both projects will be completed by June, Smith said, with plantings and seeding to be finished in the fall.

The $360,000 construction of the two projects was paid through a partnership of the Willamette National Forest, the Oregon Department of Transportation and the Federal Highway Administration, Smith said.

Funds were available from the FHA's Forest Highways Program, which allocates gas-tax dollars through the Transportation Efficiency Act.

CAPTION(S):

Klint Dunbar works on a new wayside parking area at the McKenzie River trailhead. Work on the project should be finished by June.