This past Saturday, with the help of Portland Parks and Recreation, NWTA held its first volunteer work party since COVID19 brought everything to a grinding halt. For the past several months, contractors and professional trail builders, such as Jason Wells from Sasquatch Trails, have been hard at work moving Gateway Green from its humble beginning as The Dirt Lab into its second phase. This will serve as the foundation of off-road cycling in Portland. Funds to build these Gravity Lines came from a Recreation Trails Program Grant secured by Friends of Gateway Green.
Just as the rain cleared the smoke from the air in Portland, 25 NWTA volunteers of all ages spent their Saturday with Jason to finish the shape and pack in half of the jumps, berms, and rollers on the green and blue lines of the park’s newly constructed gravity lines.
Saturday also served as a demonstration for NWTA to prove to our land managing partners that we can build and care for our trails safely by having our volunteers wear masks, work in a socially distant manner, and diligently sanitize tools at the beginning and end of the day.
Gateway Green will soon be open (Estimated November) so please respect the closure of the park! To learn more about phase II of the park, visit Portland Parks and Recreation’s website HERE.
NWTA looks forward to getting back out on the trails with our new work party safety protocols in place. Look for an announcement for our next work parties!
To become a member and support our work, visit our Join Now page HERE. To learn more about trail work and how to get involved, visit HERE.
Written by Paul Hobson [email protected]
