Vote Kohlmeier

Remember that proposed bike trail between Colfax, Albion, and Pullman? It’s been talked about for a decade but it remains as nonexistent as it’s ever been. Rail traffic on the corridor stopped years ago and it hasn’t been used for anything productive since.

Federal railbanking law not only allows but encourages the right-of-way to be converted into a public trail and bike path. The Chipman Trail has been railbanked in this manner.

Here’s the kicker: we the people already own it but it languishes unused instead of benefiting the local economy and the public health and quality of life as such trails are proven to do. It’s time for the citizens who own the corridor to get a reasonable return on their investment in this valuable asset.

As state property, it is up to the legislature to decide what to do with it. To this point, our three local state legislators refuse to support the trail project.

We now have a champion running for the legislature who recognizes the broad value a trail would give us and will help get it done. More importantly, she wants to find solutions to the opioid crisis and better mental health, housing, and rural broadband accessibility. As an emergency physician and lawyer specializing in health law, she is an earnest overachiever that I want working for what I think is important.

Vote for Dr. Pam Kohlmeier for state representative District 9.

Richard Wesson,

Pullman