By July, and possibly by this spring, the city plans to create an emergency footpath from Yukon Street in north Tolovana to U.S. Highway 101.

The path roughly 4 feet wide and 200 to 300 feet long will begin at approximately 75 feet above sea level (outside the tsunami zone) and cut an east-to-west evacuation route through a steep forested tract of land owned by Tom Drumheller, CEO of Escape Lodging.

It will allow people residing just south of Hemlocks S-curves to reach the highway after a major Cascadia Subduction Zone earthquake and tsunami.

If you live in this particular area, or if you are in this particular area of town, thats the place (you) want to get to if (youre) being chased by the water, Public Works Director Dan Grassick said.

The footpath intersects with the highway at milepost 30 and will function as an assembly point for evacuees to gather and take stock of their situation before seeking survival services elsewhere in town.

The highways still going to be the main thoroughfare, even if its got trees down and debris on it, Grassick said. Theres not going to be any cars on it, mind you; its still going to be for walking.

The highway may serve as a conduit from the Tolovana Mainline, where residents emergency supplies are stored in a cache site, to another cache site on Elk Creek Road and to the Cannon Beach Bible Church, home of the food pantry.

Though the city may sprinkle some rock over the forest floor, the footpath will primarily consist of bark mulch to maintain the natural look.

Enough vegetation, such as blackberry vines, will be trimmed or removed to make pedestrian passage possible, but no more than is absolutely necessary, Grassick said.

The path will not be part of the citys trail system and is not meant for everyday use.

It will be, really, a rough trail, in our vision, because its not something well use all the time, said Les Wierson, a member of the citys emergency preparedness committee.

In fact, even when its finished, it may not even be noticeable from the highway, nor should it be. A similarly discreet footpath for escaping a tsunami lies on the east side of the Cannon Beach Preschool and Childrens Center and eventually leads to the Haystack Heights neighborhood.

Were trying to keep it less visible from the highway but still approachable from the Yukon site, Drumheller said. I have hotel guests (at the Ocean Lodge) that I want to make sure can get out safely.

A sign for the footpath will go up on Yukon Street, but the path wont be clearly marked from the highway.

We dont want to make an attractive spot on Highway 101 for problem people wandering down into the neighborhood, Wierson said, adding that even during tsunami evacuation drills people probably wont hike the path. They will know about it, though, and thats enough.

To be honest, theres nothing else up there that people are going to want to walk up and see, Grassick said. Nor are they going to drive to that point, get out of their car and walk down (it).

In a happy coincidence, the city already has a 15-foot-wide public utility easement on the Drumheller property which occupies about a third of an acre to maintain an existing water line and telecommunications infrastructure. The footpath will be laid down within this easement boundary.

But to limit Drumhellers legal liability, the property owner and the city recently entered into a license agreement.

Anytime you own property and anything happens, youre easily able to be sued. Weve been trying to make sure that Im covered (for) insurance purposes, both personally and also from the city, Drumheller said. So if anybody breaks their ankle or something, Im not the first one they sue. Hopefully, Im third or fourth down the road.

The project is expected to take a day or two to finish and to cost less than $1,000.

The path originally was proposed in 2008 when the citys first evacuation route maps were released.

Its nice to see this finally get completed, Grassick said.