The Log Cabin Extension Road is Out of the Woods and Off the Plans...
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Thurston Regional Planning Counciil's unanimous “aye” votes on July 11, 2025 (Zoom screenshot).
On July 9, 2025, the Thurston County Transportation Policy Board voted unanimaously to remove the Log Cabin Road Extension from the Regional Transportation Plan. On July 11, the Thurston Regional Planning Council voted unanimously to do the same.
Deepest thanks to the more than 300 members of our community. Thanks to all of you who took the time to submit public comments opposing this road through the LBA Woods. More than 300 comments were submitted in writing/email, and many spoke at local city council and county board meetings over the past few months. Before their votes in July 2025, council and board members held long and robust discussions of the Log Cabin Road Extension. Several said they had never seen such strong public engagement on any issue to date.
“Never doubt that a small group of thoughtful, committed citizens can change the world; indeed, it's the only thing that ever has.” Margaret Mead
Did we change the world? Yes. We changed the future of one world—a 133 acre forest. By advocating for a change in the transportation plans, we saved a forest of native Pacific Northwest Forest and understory plants. We saved a green world that provides food, cover, and nesting sites for local, nesting, and migratory birds representing more than 80 species. We saved habitat for an untold number of mammals, reptiles, amphibians and insects that make the LBA Woods their home and foraging grounds. We protected the powers of the forest to cool and clear our air, filter and store our rainfall, and to retain and enrich our soil. We protected the integrity of the forest for habitat and recreation. We changed many minds that held to the notion that once a road is drawn on a map, it will be built—even if that road unnecessary, wasteful, and contrary to so many of our communities’ stated goals.
We protected our values.
We changed the conversation.
The Log Cabin Road Extension project (A-4) has been removed from the transportation plan. This means there is no sponsor, no plan for funding, and no other roads will be planned and built assuming a connection to this former road.
If there is a need to mitigate future east-west traffic congestion, that will become clear through the Olympia Traffic Connectivity Study. This study is to occur in 2030 (ish) and will include the roads in southeast Olympia, including around the LBA Woods.
The study asks that the City of Olympia look at all options (e.g. widening Morse-Merryman Road) and consider as options the Log Cabin Road Extension as well as a multimodal trail (bike and pedestrian) within the LBA Woods to move people (not in cars) east to west.
The world in five or ten years will be different place, but rest assured, the friends of the BLA Woods and our community of advocates will only grow. The Friends of LBA Woods will be tracking this traffic study carefully. Subscribe to our email list for news and action alerts on this issue.
Here How a Road through the LBA Woods Would Impact Our Community
Parkgoers: A road of any size through the middle of the LBA Woods would degrade your experience of the park. Imagine your once-tranquil walk through the woods overrun by traffic noise, street crossings, exhaust fumes, and roadkill. Recent medical studies show that larger forest tracts provide special health benefits to users, including immune system boost, lower blood pressure, reduced stress, accelerated recovery from surgery or illness, increased energy level and work enthusiasm, improved sleep.
The construction of the proposed Log Cabin Road Connection would bisect the LBA Woods by clearcutting nearly 5 acres of the woods (the city-owned strip of right-of-way for this road). This construction and presence of this road will destroy the ecological integrity of the forest, degrade habitat for wildlife, and reduce the benefits to our community of recreating in a safe and natural environment.
Community Members: The goals of the Thuston Climate Mitigation Plan and Thurston Climate Adaptation Plan clearly state that in order to meet the ambitious goals to reduce greenhouse-gas emissions, our community must move aggressively in the direction of preserving urban forests, reducing our reliance of green-house-gas-emitting vehicles, shifting to zero-emissions modes of transportation such as biking and walking.
Homeowners: Proximity to the LBA Woods is an asset and touted by real-estate agents selling homes in the southeast Olympia neighborhoods. A road through the park would decrease home property values. Imagine the increase in traffic noise and the decrease in safety, especially for kids walking or biking to nearby schools. Imagine the increase in traffic volume on Log Cabin Road and North Street.
Taxpayers: The cost of the road will be yours to pay. The 2025 estimate for the Log Cabin Road Connection is $10,250,00. Prior to the establishment of the park, the housing developers were expected to bear much of the cost of road construction. Without the housing, the burden of paying for an unnecessary road falls on the taxpayers.
Commuters: If built, Log Cabin Road would funnel traffic onto North Street. The North Street corridor, between Cain Road and Henderson Boulevard is already designated as a Mobility Strategy Area, meaning there is no feasible plan to address congestion in this area. North Street cannot be widened, due to a 1970s court decision in North Street Association vs. Olympia. The option of expanding Morse-Merryman Road should be examined for relieving current and future traffic congestion between Lacey and Olympia.
Walkers: LBA Woods offers 4+ miles of wide trails and footpaths on a gentle grade suitable for people needing or preferring such trails. The trails in similarly wooded city parks such as Watershed Park and Squaxin park feature steeper terrain. A road through the park will sever existing trails at 10 points.
Runners: LBA Woods boasts a 4-mile network of uncrowded wooded trails on gentle terrain. The Washington Trails Association (WTA) installed raised “turnpikes” over impassable muddy areas to make year-round running a possibility. The Olympia High School cross-country running team has trained in this park for years. The annual Little Backyard Adventure (LBA) draws hundreds of trail runners from across county, state, and region to the LBA Woods for 3- 6- and 12-hour endurance runs. A road through the middle of the woods would ruin the continuity of the trails, require multiple street crossings, and reduce the air quality within the woods.
Birdwatchers: The LBA Woods is a local refugia for migrating and nesting birds. The woods currently provide important habitat to at least 80 bird species, including North America’s largest woodpecker–the Pileated Woodpecker. The National Audubon Society’s Birds and Climate Change report lists 314 birds likely to be seriously impacted by changing climate in the United States. Of those 314 birds, 21 occur in LBA Woods. LBA Woods is a refuge for these species and will become increasingly important to them in the future. View the 21 birds and more in our Flora and Fauna guide here.
Friends of the Earth (Everyone!): The 133-acre LBA Woods serves vital ecosystem functions such as sequestering carbon (in trees and soil), mitigating flooding, recharging aquifers, storing water in seasonal wetlands, and purifying and cooling our air. Our existing forests are our best defense against rising C02 emissions. The LBA Woods is classified as a mature upland forest, with the oldest trees just shy of 100 years. Scientific research shows that as forests get older, the trees and the soil absorb more carbon every year. Cutting five acres of trees and paving over the forest soils eliminates the potential for these acres to contribute to carbon sequestration. To meet any of Thurston County’s climate goals, we must leave mature, functioning forests in place. Here’s the science to support this.
Building roads to reduce congestion rarely works. It just makes driving easier so more people drive and more cars flood the available roadways. Transportation planners need to start planning for a world with no road through the LBA Woods. As Thurston Regional Planning Council Director, Marc Daily, said during a September 15, 2020 meeting of the Thurston County Transportation Policy Board, “We cannot build our way out of congestion....Adding capacity temporarily helps things but in the long term, it induces demand therefore it gets more people out on the roadway."
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Reason to Keep the Road
It seemed like a good idea at the time.
