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President’s Message: September 2025

By Dan Bucci, President, Foothills Coalition

Hello fellow Coalition Members and Supporters! I hope you have all had a wonderful summer and have gotten to spend lots of time outside on our lovely trails, near and far! We’ve had quite a lot going on in the Coalition this summer, so let’s get to it and hit the high notes.

First off, we celebrated a huge milestone in early August with the official ribbon cutting and grand opening of the Foothills Historical Pavilion honoring Dr. Douglas Tait. The opening was well attended on a beautiful August evening in Buckley with many members of the community, the Coalition, Dr. Tait’s family, and local elected officials celebrating the new gathering space. I was personally thrilled with how great everything looks now that it is completed. I know that this will serve as a great community gathering space, a shady respite for those using the trail, and a great place to learn about the history of the trail, its founders, and the long-standing history of the area for the Puyallup and Muckleshoot Tribes who have been stewarding the land the trail sits upon for time immemorial. I want to give a huge thanks to all the supporters who made this project happen. This is such a great space to have at the new trailhead in Downtown Buckley!

Now let’s talk bridges…which seem to be plagued by issues in the Foothills Communities that straddle SR-165, SR-162 and SR-410. Let’s start with the good news! It looks like the Spiketon Ditch Bridge should be open for business sometime in the next few weeks if all goes well! We are thankful for Pierce County for all their efforts to expedite the project to replace the failed bridge. Back in November 2023 the bridge was declared structurally unsafe, and was closed and ultimately demolished in June 2024. The original estimates for the project had a bridge replacement project taking up to 3 years to complete. With some creative thinking and good support from Pierce County, a solution was devised to use an ACROW Bridge to replace the failed bridge. This bridge is modular and allowed for a shorter construction window, which will enable the closure time to be under 2 years. We are excited to get the trail fully linked back up, and this will now enable trail users to travel from Enumclaw to Puyallup, or vice versa, using the new White River Bridge and the replaced Spiketon Ditch bridge. It will feel quite good to have a fully connected trail once again!

Speaking of the White River Bridge, as many of us are (painfully) aware, the SR-410 bridge is now closed indefinitely across the White River due to a large truck striking the upper supports and causing considerable damage. Add this into the closed Fairfax Bridge and we now have a perfect storm of Foothills communities having extremely limited access during peak tourism and recreation season. Now more than ever it is important that we all do what we can to support the businesses in these communities, specifically Carbonado, Wilkeson and Buckley, who are experiencing the brunt of the impacts of the closure of these two critical bridges. Thankfully with the completion of the Foothill Trail White River Bridge last fall, the SR-410 crossing is not the only link between Buckley and Enumclaw. We can see the value of this new asset as bikers and pedestrians can make a relatively short trek between the two communities along the Foothills Trail. Also, the bridge on the trail was designed to be able to handle emergency vehicle traffic which is critical for the City of Buckley still having access to the hospital in Enumclaw, rather than having to rely on longer trips to places like Auburn or Puyallup. We are all hopeful that WSDOT can affect a quick repair on the SR-410 bridge and get traffic flowing again, but in the meantime hop on that bike and use the Foothills Trails to keep these two Foothills communities linked up. 

As for the Fairfax Bridge, WSDOT recently held community meetings to share the two lead options. Option 1 is to replace the failed bridge with a new bridge located nearby but to the north at an estimated cost of $160 million. The new bridge would require some new roadway and some rock cutting to get to the new location. The second option was to simply demolish the existing bridge, and not construct a replacement, at a cost of $80 million dollars. From the summary of public comments and feedback from the meetings, the public overwhelmingly supports construction of a new bridge. As I’ve said before, having a bridge is critical to the well-being of Wilkeson and Carbonado, which have many small businesses that rely on the traffic of tourists and recreational users heading up to Mount Rainier National Park, and the surrounding National Forest Lands in the area. A failure to construct a new bridge would be a dire loss for Pierce County as it would permanently cut off easy public access to iconic locations such as Carbon Glacier, Mowich Lake, the Carbon River Rainforest, and Clearwater Wilderness just to name a few. Please know that the Coalition will continue to be involved in this process as a key stakeholder, and we will continue to support a solution that restores access to these areas. 

As always, thanks for all your support and I wish you all a wonderful end of summer and fall season. 

-Dan

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Community Celebrates the Grand Opening of the Doc Tait Pavilion

After years of planning, fundraising, and community support, the Doc Tait Pavilion in Buckley is officially open! On August 7, 2025, the Foothills Rails-to-Trails Coalition and the City of Buckley welcomed trail supporters, families, and community leaders to celebrate this exciting milestone together.

We were especially honored to have Dr. Douglas “Doc” Tait’s children—Maura, Garnette, and Garth—and their families in attendance, as well as Heidi and Gretchen, daughters of trail founder Stan Engle. Their presence made the celebration deeply personal, reminding us that the Foothills Trail began with a handful of passionate community members whose legacy lives on today.

The ceremony featured remarks from longtime trail champions and civic leaders. Robin Partington reflected on Doc Tait’s role as the “Father of the Foothills Trail,” sharing more about who he was and the vision he carried. She reminded the crowd that “this pavilion is not just about one person—it represents the dedication of so many who refused to give up on the Foothills Trail.” Former Pierce County Parks Director Jan Wolcott spoke to the transformation of a bold vision into reality. Buckley Mayor Beau Burkett highlighted what the pavilion means for the city and its residents, while Councilmember Dave Morell closed the program by sharing reflections on the trail’s future.

The pavilion itself is the product of a remarkable collaboration. Parametrix designed interpretive signage to share the trail’s story in an authentic community voice, with the panels fabricated and installed by Plumb Signs. Bruce Dees & Associates managed project design, bidding, and construction oversight. And WS Contractors brought the vision to life, building the structure that now stands as a centerpiece along the Foothills Trail.

More than a building, the pavilion is designed to serve as a true hub for the trail. It provides a place to rest, gather, and learn—hosting community events, sharing interpretive history, and offering a welcoming trailhead for visitors of all ages.

Inside the pavilion, a donor recognition wall reads: “Thank you for supporting trails. Together we are making Doc Tait’s vision a reality.” That message reflects the generosity of all who gave—individuals, families, foundations, and community partners—whose support brought this project to life.

We also acknowledge the many Trail Champions whose vision and perseverance over four decades shaped the Foothills Trail. Their legacy is honored through our Trail Champions archive, available at foothillscoalition.org/trail-champions.

As the evening drew to a close, Dr. Tait’s daughter Garnette shared with Executive Director Breanna Fokes that her father would most likely have looked at the pavilion and said with characteristic humility, “you shouldn’t have.” Breanna closed her remarks by offering the community’s response: “Well… we did.”

The Doc Tait Pavilion now stands as both a tribute to the trail’s beginnings and a promise for its future—a welcoming gathering place where stories are told, connections are built, and generations will continue to experience the power of community vision.