SPOKANE, Wash. — It was a hot, sunny summer day as dozens gathered on an overpass spanning a section of the North Spokane Corridor.
While the roadway below is still closed, traffic was moving right along on the bridge above. The newest leg of the Children of the Sun Trail opened to bikers, walkers and riders on Friday.
The new section, from Columbia Avenue to Carlisle, runs around two miles. The new section ends at Wildhorse Park at North Ralph Street, where a celebration was held to commemorate its completion.
A drum circle of children from the Salish School performed a ceremony; the land and trail's indigenous origins were noted throughout the dedication of the new piece of trail.
"While a companion trail for the North Spokane Corridor was planned a long, long time ago, the Children of the Sun trail today we see has evolved. It started as just being named by the Spokane Tribe as Children of the Sun," said Charlene Kay, Region Planning & Strategic Community Manager for WSDOT.
Many also hailed the trail as a revitalization of several northeast Spokane neighborhoods like Hillyard and Minnehaha.
"It embraces connection, it honors our legacy. It plays a critical role in connecting people across Spokane and the region," said Spokane Mayor Lisa Brown.
Washington Governor Jay Inslee was also at Friday's ceremony, which he praised as a success of the state's pledge to fight climate change.
"This gives people an opportunity to commute, to recreate with family," he said. "And we're doing this all across the state of Washington because we have the Climate Commitment Act and that helps finance these trails all across the state."
The entire Children of the Sun Trail will run parallel to the ten miles of the North-South Freeway. It will eventually connect to the Centennial Trail, though no completion date for the rest of the trail has been set yet.
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