City of Salem seeking public input on Pringle Creek Pathway designs

By Casey Chaffin, The West Side Newspaper

The City of Salem is seeking public input on the Pringle Creek Pathway project, which will connect pedestrians and bicyclists in downtown Salem with the network of park paths on both sides of the Willamette River. 

The path will start as a suspended bridge under the Commercial Street Bridge, continue onto a paved path along Pringle Creek, and connect to the existing pathways in Riverfront Park. Once complete, the path will make it possible for a pedestrian to travel on multi-use pathways from Willamette University or Salem Health all the way to Minto-Brown or Wallace Marine Park. 

“This project's been pretty important because it's a critical link in the path system that's currently missing,” said Brian Banta, the City of Salem’s project manager for the endeavor, at the April 1 meeting of the West Salem Redevelopment Advisory Board. “So, it'll fill that gap.”

The city has released two preliminary designs for the pathway for public feedback: option one, which features an “angular” path, and option 2, which features a “curvy” path. Both designs feature a 12-foot-wide shared use path, overlooks onto Pringle Creek, an ADA-accessible ramp, and lighting. 

The designs vary by the shape of the pathway, the location of the overlooks, and some other design features, as noted in the illustrations. Community members can provide feedback on which elements of each design they like the best. 

“Those aren’t set in stone,” Banta said. If there’s enough public interest, the design elements can be mixed-and-matched. “The idea is we'll figure out this preferred alternative and then we'll go through more detailed designs.”

The two designs feature a cost disparity – the proposed cost of option two, the “curvy” path, costs $300,000 more than option one, Banta said. 

The total project cost is estimated at $9 million, with a full project budget of $9.9 million to account for unforeseen costs. The funding for the project originates from two pots of city cash, the 2022 Safety and Livability Bond ($3.5 million) and the Urban Renewal Agency ($420,000), in addition to a federal Oregon Department of Transportation grant ($6 million). 

The project is currently in its preliminary design phase, and will enter the final design process between October 2026-September 2027. Construction is currently scheduled for October 2027. 

Community members who wish to weigh in the designs can take an online survey via the City of Salem’s Pringle Creek Path Connection Project webpage.