CORRECTION: In the print version of this article, the date of an upcoming fundraiser for the construction of a Buckley pump track was accidentally omitted. The date of the fundraiser, which will be at the Buckley Eagles Club, is Nov. 22. The article has been updated.

The city of Buckley could see the construction of a new pump track in the near future.

During the Sept. 9 city council meeting, elected officials voted to provide land to the local nonprofit Pedals for the People to construct the track between the new Doc Tait pavilion and the Veterans Memorial along state Route 410.

Pedals for the People, founded by local Jalen Johansen of Johansen Construction, would be responsible for building the track for the city waiving permit fees and assuming control of the track when it is completed.

“It seems like something the city could use, and I think that it fits well with their theme they have going downtown there,” Johansen said, noting the other recreational facilities like the skate park and sports courts. “… I knew it wasn’t in their budget… so I figured with my background in construction, I could stand up a nonprofit and be able to get enough between donations and our resources to get this thing to the finish line.”

A pump track is somewhat similar to a skate park, but there is a crucial difference: the course, which consists of multiple looping, interconnected paths, is designed for bikers to gain momentum via “pumping” their bodies instead of using feet or pedals.

Johansen, a fan of “anything with two wheels,” said these tracks are good for bikers of all skill levels, from kids learning balance and coordination to experts who want to hop from mound to mound.

He also said these tracks are a great workout.

“If you spend just a few minutes on a pump track… you’ll realize that you’re using muscles you didn’t know existed,” he laughed.

The idea of a pump track was not a popular one with some residents, according to the city’s 2024 Parks, Recreation, & Trails Plan.

A survey of more than 400 people, mostly consisting of parents with younger kids and teens or seniors, showed that respondents ranked a splash pad, trail expansion, and new or updated playgrounds as the most important improvements they wanted the city to make — and the pump track the second- or least-important; the only option deemed less important by the community was a dog park.

The city ultimately left a pump track off its parks capital improvement projects list.

That said, just because some proposed improvements are more popular than others doesn’t mean there’s any money to fund them.

“It’s true that items such as a splash park or larger-scale improvements ranked higher, but those projects carry very high installation and ongoing maintenance costs (and we did not receive any donation offers for those),” City Administrator Courtney Brunell said in an email. “…The pump track proposal was unique in that it brought a willing community member forward with the resources to make it happen. Council was enthusiastic about accepting this generosity rather than letting the opportunity pass.”

While Johansen is confident he’ll be able to create the pump track quicker and for less money than the city could by hiring its own private contractor, he still has to raise money for the project.

He’s hoping to keep the costs below $800,000, and that a Nov. 22 fundraiser at the Buckley Eagles will bring in enough cash to pay for design and engineering. Additional donations and grants that he’s applied for would pave the rest of the way.

If things move smoothly, Johansen is predicting that he could break ground this coming spring, construct through the summer, and open the track by the fall of 2026.

And since it’ll be made of asphalt, it won’t get muddy during the rainy season.

“It’s designed so we can enjoy it year-round, being in the Pacific Northwest with the weather,” he said. “It’s nice being on dirt pump tracks — it’s just the maintenance is pretty high, and the weather we have, it wouldn’t be usable all year.