King County Parks and Recreation recently upgraded an Enumclaw stretch of the popular Foothills Trail and – with an eye to shaky budgets in coming years – still has plans for further improvements.

The just-finished Phase I portion of the project saw about 800 feet of asphalt put down, along with an improved crossing at 252nd Street, a retaining wall and installation of a pedestrian footbridge over a small stream that bisects the trail. Until now, a wooden bridge spanned the skinny creek identified only as Stream 5, a structure that has unknown origins, according to one county spokesman.

Total cost of Phase I was $885,000, according to Doug Williams of the county’s Department of Natural Resources and Parks.

Phase II, which has been shelved until funding can be identified, will see the paved portion of the trail extended to an area just north of Mud Mountain Road. The second phase, Williams said, will carry a price tag in the neighborhood of $1.3 million.

The trail follows a former Burlington Northern Santa Fe Railway right-of-way and the biggest hurdle to extending the trail into Pierce County is the White River. Plans call for a pedestrian bridge connecting trails in Enumclaw and Buckley and the two cities have formed a partnership with the two counties involved. A study was commissioned in 2006, examining potential big options.