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King County Council approves the Eastside Trail Master Plan 9-0

The plan's concept image of the possible view from the awesome Wilburton trestle.
The plan’s concept image of the possible view from the awesome Wilburton trestle.

Cover Letter, Acknowledgements, Summary & Table of Contents-mapThe King County Council approved a master plan for a trail along the Eastside Rail Corridor Monday by a unanimous vote of 9–0. The vote is a key step towards creating the region’s most significant new trail since the Burke-Gilman opened in 1978.

Connecting through or near the hearts of major Eastside communities from Renton to Bellevue to Kirkland to Woodinville, the Eastside Trail promises to completely change the game for non-motorized transportation east of Lake Washington.

“We will be connecting thousands of residents up and down the Eastside to transit, trail, recreation and economic development opportunities,” said Councilmember Claudia Balducci in a press release after Monday’s vote (see in full below). Balducci chairs the Eastside Rail Corridor’s Regional Advisory Committee and, along with County Executive Dow Constantine, has been a major force behind making this happen and putting a sense of urgency into getting it done as quickly as possible.


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There are many pieces of funding and work all moving at the same time. If everything comes together as planned, most sections of the trail could be open by 2020. As we reported in October, the County has already secured $10 million from various sources to rehab the Wilburton Trestle, one of the most challenging and promising segments of the whole route. Building a missing nearby crossing of I-405 is also scheduled as part of a major WSDOT freeway project that should be complete by the end of 2020.

From a presentation to the County Council (PDF)
From a presentation to the County Council (PDF)

Though the Master Plan sets a $137.5 million long-term vision to complete and pave the entire project, the county is looking at moving quickly to build and open a much lower cost interim trail that could be partially open by the end of this year, mostly open in 2020 and fully open in 2023. Here’s the schedule as presented to the Council:

2016-0510-ATT4_ERC_Presentation-impl

Kirkland has already opened its section as an interim hard pack gravel trail. The city also created its own master plan to fully pave the trail in the future.

Snohomish County also recently purchased its section of the corridor, though their plans for a trail lag behind King County’s. However, the vision for a connection through to the City of Snohomish and connecting to the incredible Centennial Trail is very exciting.

Here’s the full King County Council press release:

On Monday, the Metropolitan King County Council approved the next step in making the Eastside Rail Corridor a reality through the passage of the ERC’s Trail Master Plan. The Eastside Rail Corridor (ERC) is the former BNSF rail line that runs through the linear heart of the Eastside.

The Trail Master Plan, which includes the entire 42 mile corridor running from Snohomish County to Renton, lays out a multi-use vision that will allow people and green spaces to coexist on a car-free, transit and trail corridor. When completed, the Eastside Rail Corridor is expected to be the most heavily used recreational corridor on the eastside of King County. The ERC’s Trail Master Plan focuses on the trail portion of the multi-use vision while maintaining room for other uses and economic development and educational opportunities directly adjacent to the corridor, like the Global Innovation Exchange and REI’s corporate headquarters.

“I am excited to approve the Trail Master Plan so we can finally roll up our sleeves and get to work on creating one of the most unique corridors in the country. “Said Councilmember Claudia Balducci, who also Chair’s the Eastside Rail Corridor’s Regional Advisory Committee. “We will be connecting thousands of residents up and down the Eastside to transit, trail, recreation and economic development opportunities.”

“This Master Trail Plan is an important milestone in the development of this great treasure for all of King County,” said Councilmember Kathy Lambert. I’m looking forward to the day when the entire corridor is completed and being used by many. Until then it’s encouraging to see the progress that is being made every day and this is just one more very important step in that journey.”

“Thanks to all those who shared their voice about the future of this shared community resource,” said Council Vice Chair Reagan Dunn. “I am excited that this long time vision of King County and countless others on the Eastside is moving forward.”

“Now that the master plan is approved, we can begin creating a world-class, multi-purpose trail that knits together East and South King County communities,” said King County Executive Dow Constantine. “Today’s action by the County Council will help us complete sections of the trail by 2020, including the iconic Wilburton Trestle.”

The ERC runs through Woodinville, Kirkland, Redmond and Bellevue, and parts of unincorporated Snohomish and King Counties. The corridor represents the final, uninterrupted stretch of land through the spine of east King County, creating a unique and once in a generation opportunity for transit alternatives and pedestrian use.

Balducci, Dunn and Lambert represent the County on the Eastside Rail Corridor’s Regional Advisory Committee and shepherded the plan into fruition. 

Related posts:

Comments

8 responses to “King County Council approves the Eastside Trail Master Plan 9-0”

  1. Mark whiteside

    Fantastic! It can’t happen soon enough

    1. AP

      And it’s not going to happen soon enough! Sound Transit’s piece–a key piece for traveling between Bellevue and anywhere north/east–won’t happen for six years.

      1. Gordon

        Yeah… disappointing. Getting from Bellevue to Kirkland is the most stressful area on that map today.

  2. MVA

    Gotta love the run-commuter in the rendering!

  3. Lewis Lewis

    Is this trail going to be paved by 2023? I wasn’t sure from reading the article but it sounds like only $10m in funding has been secured but $150m is needed to fully pave the trail?

    Awesome news regardless, it looks like this will connect with the future Soos Creek Trail extension and existing Cedar River Trail.

    1. The 2023 date is for an interim trail, which probably means something similar to the current state of the Cross-Kirkland Corridor: mostly gravel with some asphalt sections near intersections and varying conditions around bridges and underpasses.

      The CKC in its interim state is a legitimately good trail. It’s a nice consistent width and grade, it’s level, and it drains pretty well. Or at least that’s how it was last time I was there. Gravel trails do require maintenance to stay level and smooth, particularly when it rains, snows, and freezes. I grew up near a pretty big crushed-limestone trail network that is generally kept up well but does develop ruts sometimes. The dust and “mud” isn’t great for your drivetrain, but you can use it to get around most of the year (it certainly holds up to rain better than unimproved dirt or grass surfaces). The CKC is sort of like that.

  4. […] The King County Council approved the Eastside Trail Master Plan plan 9-0 on Monday. (Our earlier coverage is […]

  5. James

    Great news! Go King County!

    My two cents:

    “The city also created its own master plan to fully pave the trail in the future.”

    I would prefer the trail to stay compact gravel instead of pavement. I walk, run and ride my bike on the Kirkland corridor several times a week and IT IS GREAT. compact gravel is softer on runner’s knees, but flat and solid enough for bikers. It also slows down bikers, which is good since it’s shared with lots of different movers; walkers, baby strollers, runners, bikers, etc. And the project could save a ton of money if they skipped the pavement idea.

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