>A trail planned to connect woodland paths in South Whidbey Community Park with a crosstown walkway in Langley has taken a detour.

Plans to build the Cedars Trail were blocked last month when residents along the route, which ran through The Cedars housing development, objected to allowing easements for the project. Island County is now looking at extending the trail along Maxwelton Road.

Gary Hess, the lead county engineer for the project, said the original site plan for the trail called for easements across 15 parcels, but only four owners agreed to allow them. He said the county will have to change its plans.

“It’s time to regroup,” he said.

Hess said the county will now start working on a new route. Since that route is in the early planning stages, it will delay completion of the project until at least next year.

“We are looking at both the east and west sides of Maxwelton Road and considering both a route that would run parallel to the road with plantings and a guard rail to protect users from traffic and one that might wind partially through the woods,” Hess said.

Hess said his office will be contacting landowners whose parcels adjoin Maxwelton Road for input and to request easements if needed. Island County’s right-of-way measures between 40 and 60 feet wide along Maxwelton Road, a dimension Hess said could make it tight for the proposed 10-foot-wide trail. That width is required by the federal agency that is providing the trail construction funds.

Whatever route is finally mapped out, trail users will have to cross the road to access either the park or the city of Langley.

The trail as it was previously planned was two miles in length and was to connect trails at South Whidbey Community Park with the Langley crosstown walkway, which begins at the Island County Fairgrounds. The proposed Maxwelton Road route would be about the same distance, but would have fewer hills.

Since most of the funding for the project comes from the federal government, the trail will have to meet grade specifications which make it accessible to people of all physical abilities. It must be wide enough for two-way walking, biking and horse traffic.

The budget for the project as it was planned was about $300,000. Hess said he expects a route along Maxwelton to cost less.The county has hired Atelier Landscape Consultants from Seattle to work on the project design, which is expected to be finished later this year.