Phase one of a proposed Wallowa Lake Bike and Pedestrian Path which would improve bicycle and pedestrian travel from Joseph to the county park at the north end of the lake is on track to be included in the Oregon Department of Transportations 2015-2018 improvement plan for this region.

However, the second phase of the project building a path from the north to the south end of the lake is a much harder proposition. A study is now underway, and people are invited to get involved by taking a survey and leaving comments on a website devoted to the idea of establishing a walking and biking route along the lake.

The website, www.wallowalakebikepedplan.org, will also report new information as it becomes available.

Safety is definitely the number one concern, said ODOT project manager Teresa Penninger, who was part of a team that was in Wallowa County the last weekend in September, holding informational meetings, accepting public comments and leading a bicycle ride from Joseph City Park despite rainy weather.

Also part of the team are consultants Drew Meisel of Alta Planning and Design and John Bosket of DKS Associates. The study underway is being paid for by state planning and research funds.

Penninger said phase one was easy in comparison to phase two, because it allows the creation of a separate bike/pedestrian lane within the existing right-of-way on the west side of the highway from Joseph to the lake. She said the estimated cost of that part of the project is $1.7 million.

However, extending a safe route from one end of the lake to the other presents much harder challenges. She said in this study the possibility of some kind of a path on either side of the lake is being studied.

Both sides of the lake have issues and concerns, Penninger said. The east side challenges include a constrained roadway with narrow shoulders, unstable soil and protection of the east moraine, and a steep embankment down to the lake. West side issues include private land ownership most of the way, no lake access and snow on shaded areas for a long time.

Penninger said ODOT has determined there are 3,000 vehicles and 200 bicyclists a day traveling the highway from the north to the south end of Wallowa Lake in the peak month of July, and the average for the whole year is 900 vehicles a day.

What we came away with was that almost everyone is very positive about doing something (to improve bicycle and pedestrian travel along the lake), but were not sure what that will be yet, Penninger said.

She encourages everyone with an interest in the project to express their concerns and opinions via the Wallowa Lake Bicycle and Pedestrian Plan website, preferably by the end of October, call her at 541-963-1344 or email Teresa.B.Penninger@odot.state.or.us.