Renton city officials say they have a solution to the Cedar River corridor, a portion of the City Center Community Plan that caused concern for many Renton residents.

To reduce the impact to the surrounding neighborhood, city has refined its policy and is proposing improvements that will only utilize city-owned property and right-of-way.

The revised proposal includes taking the 18-foot right-of-way on the northside of the river ­— between Williams Avenue South and Bronson Way South — and turning it into a multi-purpose trail. It won’t be a pass-through road anymore, but would act as a local access road for residents and a trail for pedestrians and bicyclists. This plan does not propose to change residential driveways or access.

The plan also proposes to extend the trail on the southside of the river onto Jones Park using the already existing 20-feet of right-of-way between Williams Avenue South and Wells Avenue South. The trail would be reconfigured to include a walkway and a planting strip along the side. A 12-foot driveway will be carved out to allow for vehicular access for the two businesses in the area.

According to Chip Vincent, administrator of the Community and Economic Development Department, much of the new additions to the plan, especially on the southside of the river, were developed when his department looked into the Renton Downtown Civic Core Plan.

“Through the civic core process… we really needed to emphasize the connection between the civic core — the two block area between Morris Avenue South and Burnett Avenue South, and South Second Street and South Third Street — and its connection to the Cedar River,” said Vincent.

“It really started becoming clear to us that we needed to make better connections on the southside of the river,” he continued. “When we started to look at the opportunities, it was a better lift on the south side with Jones Park being there, with the trail as it existed today, and making a better connection to downtown on southside.”

The plan also proposed putting in a pedestrian bridge near the Renton Senior Activity Center, alongside Logan Avenue South. The bridge, Vincent said, establishes a connection to the civic core and reinforces the goals of the community plan.

“It’s connecting a lot of pieces in a much more realistic and manageable way, but all within the context of city-owned land — it’s either right-of-way or publicly-owned and under our control today,” he added.

“I am personally excited about the newly introduced possibilities,” said Michael O’Donin, North Renton resident and City Center Community Plan Advisory Board member.

Council member Ed Prince called the revised plan “innovative,” and “something we can get done in relative short order.”

The trail improvements are part of the City Center Community Plan, a 20-year project adopted in 2011 to “shape and direct the growth (of the region) in a way that reflects the vision and desires of the people,” and “provide a strategy to stimulate economic development, improve the livability of the neighborhood and preserve the City Center’s unique identity.”

Split into three areas of focuses, the plan focuses on transportation, land use and community vitality.

The Cedar River corridor improvements fall under one of the eight goals of the community plan that aims to “protect, enhance and improve public access to and between the natural features in the City Center including Lake Washington, the Cedar River, and it’s many parks and open spaces.”

At initial community plan public meetings, community members suggested improving the trails and overall safety, as well as improving lighting in walkways that connect parking and activity areas.

“People wanted to celebrate the Cedar River. They wanted to maximize it as an opportunity for the city to be a focal point for the community,” said Vincent.

However the initial version of the plan raised concern for many North Renton residents.

“Strategies such as Transfers of Development Rights (TDRs), zoning changes, or purchases of property should be considered and evaluated to determine the best approach,” read the 2011 version of the plan.

Fearing the city might condemn private property, residents brought their concerns to the City Council, and the council voted in June to amend parts of the plan.

The amended version of the plan now states “the City shall not utilize eminent domain in furtherance of the policy.”

The revised plan was presented to the Planning and Development Committee and the City Center Community Plan Advisory Board on July 13.

The city is hosting an open house to discuss the Cedar River corridor portion of the community plan from 6 to 8 p.m. on Aug. 9 at the Renton Senior Activity Center, 211 Burnett Ave N.

A public hearing will be scheduled at a later date, and the revised plan will then make its way to the City Council for approval.

For more information about the City Center Community Plan, visit http://rentonwa.gov/CityCenter/.