State Funds Help Boost Mirabeau Trailheads

Sat., Sept. 18, 1999

Marny Lombard Staff Writer

Folks who like to access the Centennial Trail at Mirabeau Point can expect an easier time parking soon.

Instead of bumping their way over the curbside at Option A, or bouncing their way through the mud wallows at Option B, trail users will find actual trailheads.

Work on two trailheads is made possible by $100,000 from the Washington state Parks and Recreation Department. The state co-manages the Centennial Trail with the city of Spokane and Spokane County Parks and Recreation Department.

That money will be enough to complete one trailhead and start the second one this fall, said Mirabeau manager Sue Lani.

Option A, or the southern trailhead that’s next to the Centennial Trail bridge, will be closed for a couple of weeks while it is graded, prepped and paved. There will be room for 30 cars. Madsen said she expects that work to be complete by mid-October.

The second trailhead will be further north on the trail, but still within Mirabeau’s property. It will be paved next spring and will be designed to hold 51 vehicles.

“The credit for this one really has to go to the Mirabeau people,” said Jon Rascoff, president of the Friends of the Centennial Trail.

The Friends’ current focus is raising money for the West Link, that section of the trail just west of downtown Spokane.

“One reason I think the trailheads are so desirable is that setion of trail is heavily used,” Rascoff said.

Along with this construction, an unofficial trailhead on private property just north of Euclid Avenue will be closed off, once the southern trailhead is complete. For several years, trail users have parked there, but the spot has never been a formal trailhead.

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