Sean C. Morgan
Boaters trying to get into Foster Lake at Gedney Creek should have an easier time of it next summer.
Linn Country Parks and Recreation is finishing up a project to widen the boat ramp and make it easier to get boats on the lake.
“It’s basically a reconstruction of the old ramp,” Director Brian Carol said. The new ramp is two lanes wide and steeper, going from an 11-percent grade to 14 percent.
With the shallower grade, boaters had to back further into the water to unload from an asphalt surface that was often slippery. The new concrete surface is textured.
Boarding floats will be added along the ramp, Carol said. Up until this year, the ramp had a single dock off a pier extending into the lake. With the new boarding floats, boaters will be able to walk along the dock with their boats and get back to their rigs easier, speeding up the time getting on and off the lake.
Improving access to Foster Lake has been one of the Linn County Board of Commissioners’ goals, Carol said. In the past, boaters have reported waiting 45 minutes to an hour to put in. Corps of Engineers data show 25,321 user days per year. In the Willamette Valley, the lake is second only to Detroit Reservoir in recreational importance.
Carol estimates that 10,000 to 11,000 of user days use Gedney Creek boat ramp. The remainder put in at Sunnyside Park.
At Gedney, they were already using the single-lane ramp as two lanes at times, Carol said. “The really good boaters, I now suspect, they’ll be launching three at a time.”
Parks and Recreation is spending about $184,000 on the new ramp. The funding comes from grants by the Oregon Department of Fish and Wildlife and the Oregon State Marine Board.
In other areas, work is underway at the new River Bend Park east of Sweet Home on the South Santiam River and just off Highway 20.
The parks department has removed trees from the planned roads on the east side of the park.
“We’re hoping to start cutting roads within the next couple of weeks,” Carol said. A $250,000 Oregon Parks and Recreation grant is in place to begin work there, and the county plans to pursue more grant funding as the project continues. The county is using money from blown-down timber for grant matches.
The parks department also is building new picnic shelters at Roaring River and Waterloo parks.