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King County Regional Trails Wishlist

That last post about levy-supported trail projects got me thinking – here are some things I would do with $165 million for King County trail projects (in no particular order):

  • Extend the Interurban Trail North from 110th to Greenwood Park
  • Extend the Interurban Trail North from Echo Lake to Mathay-Ballinger Park
  • Replace the  missing trestle over Preston-Fall City Rd. on the Preston-Snoqualmie Trail
  • Extend the Preston-Snoqualmie Trail to SR 203 / Snoqualmie Valley Trail
  • Pave the Issaquah-Preston Trail next to I-90 between Highlands and Preston
  • Complete the missing link on the Snoqualmie Valley Trail between Tokul Rd and Reinig Bridge
  • Extend the Cedar River Trail pavement to Landsburg
  • Build the pieces of the Puyallup-Lynnwood Trail Corridor remaining after the levy-supported work is done
  • Extend the Green River Trail from Kent to Auburn – Black Diamond Rd.
  • Complete the missing link on the 520 Trail between 108th and NE 24th
  • Extend the Burke Gillman on the east side of the Sammamish River from Blythe Park to Wilmont Gateway
  • Extend the West Sammamish River Trail from Redmond Way to Leary Way
  • Extend the Duwamish Trail to the Spokane Street Bridge
  • Extend the I-90 trail to 2nd Ave / Chief Sealth Trail
  • Extend the Chief Sealth Trail under I-5 to 2nd Ave
  • Complete the gap in the Chief Sealth Trail between Myrtle and Webster
  • Extend the Chief Sealth Trail from 51st & Gazelle to the Cedar River Trail
  • Connect SeaTac Airport with the Interurban Trail at Tukwila Station
  • Build grade-separated crossings at 51st, NW Sammamish Rd, and Gilman blvd on the E Lake Sammamish Trail
  • Build bridges over I-405 and the Sammamish River on the Tolt Pipeline Trail
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Redmond

SEPA determination of non-significance – sale of property interests to Sound Transit

Gentlemen:

The description of this proposal states “The property interests proposed for sale do ot overlap with any recreational facilities on the north side of Marymoor…”

This is extremely misleading inasmuch as the proposed transit route obliterates the gap between the East Lake Sammamish trail and the Redomond central connector trail, precluding the completion of a trail that the cycling community has been anticipating for years.

Both trails now dead end at arbritrary, non-destination, points. Considering the energy and resources that the county and city have invested in their fragments, it would be very unfortunate if they were not to be connected. There is no good pedestrian / bicycle access to the bear creek trail system from the east and unless it is expected that all transit users will drive to the train this must be corrected.

Shoreline made trail construction in the right of way a condition for permitting Sound Transit in their jurisdiction. King County should do the same while it still has something that the transit agency wants.  To give them this property without requiring them to build the trail connection would be a serious disservice to County taxpayers.

 

From the August 2018 ENVIRONMENTAL RE-EVALUATION CONSULTATION filed by Sound Transit:

Different than the 2011 Project, the Proposed Design Refinements would accommodate an at-grade trail connection between the East Lake Sammamish Trail and Redmond Central Connector with a bridge over Bear Creek. If funding is provided by King County, the missing link to the East Lake Sammamish Trail would be built by Sound Transit when the light rail extension is constructed.

 

UPDATE  9/3 – got this reply:

Thanks for your comment regarding the Sale of Property Interests to Sound Transit. As you likely observed, King County Parks withdrew its SEPA Checklist and Subsequent Determination for this project as it was ultimately redundant to the environmental process undertaken by Sound Transit.

To address your specific comment, King County Parks has been working closely with Sound Transit since the passage of ST3 to ensure that the East Lake Sammamish Trail North Extension is integrated into and constructed concurrently with the Downtown Redmond Link Extension (DRLE) Project. As you’ve noted, this is a critical trail connection that needs to be completed between two significant regional trails and Sound Transit’s project is providing the first real opportunity to complete this connection. When finished, the East Lake Sammamish Trail will pass through the SR 520/202 Intersection, cross Bear Creek and connect directly with both the Redmond Central Connector and Bear Creek Trails in Redmond.

If you have any additional comments/questions related to Sound Transit’s DRLE Project, please contact Sound Transit’s Community Outreach Specialist, Ryan Bianchi at: Ryan.bianchi@soundtransit.org

Mike Ullmer
King County DNRP | Parks and Recreation Division
Desk: (206) 477-4485 | Cell: (206) 258-0615
mullmer@kingcounty.gov

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King County Council

Got an email from Claudia Balducci bragging that they’d passed a supplemental budget.  Hidden in her bulleted list was this item:

 

  • $100,000 to design a commemoration of Japanese American Farmers as part of the Eastrail (formerly the Eastside Rail Corridor) crossing at NE 8th Avenue in Bellevue;

 

At least the name “Eastrail” is better than any of the options they put up for a vote – and it’s good to know that they are spending money on what will be a big-deal crossing at NE 8th.

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May 2019

“Hi Jerry,
Congratulations on riding the most miles for the 2019 Bike Everywhere Challenge! As a reward for all of your hard work, UW Transportation Services would like to present you with a trophy recognizing your accomplishments. Stop by the Transportation Services office at 1320 NE Campus Parkway any time between 7:30 a.m. – 5 p.m., Monday – Friday to claim your trophy.Thank you for all you do to make UW a sustainable place to work. Ride on!
Best,
ALICE VEN
Outreach & Marketing Specialist, Commute Options
Transportation Services
UW Facilities”