The signs are already up along the Burke-Gilman Trail alerting riders to the Parks Department’s plans to fix some bumps along the oldest stretch of the stories rail-trail north of Matthews Beach Park. Some of the pavement along this stretch is 46 years old. It may have helped launch the nation’s rails-to-trails movement, but it has long been showing its age. It was also built without the under-trail root barriers that more modern trails have, such as the section just north of the Seattle city limits. In addition, the sides have gradually eroded, making the width of the older sections a tiny bit skinnier.

Work on the first segment is set to begin March 25 and last up to two weeks. The final section is expected to be complete by July. And even more good news is that there appear to be easy detours for all of these work zones, which is not always the case for this trail. You can check out a map of all the planned detours via an online map from the Parks Department. Here’s the planned detour for the first section:

Trail pavements lasts a lot longer than roadway pavement. A half century of service is pretty darn good, especially since the Parks Department has not always stayed on top of maintenance. It is great to see the department continuing its maintenance work from 2023.

However, maintenance will only extend the life of the trail to a point. Mayor Bruce Harrell’s proposed Seattle Transportation Plan (“STP”) includes a large capital project concept for a major upgrade of the trail from UW campus to Matthews Beach and UW campus to Fremont “to more comfortably and safely connect people walking, rolling, and biking on one of the region’s most popular trails with destinations along their route.” Inclusion in the “aspirational” capital projects list does not mean it is guaranteed to happen, but this is the first time I have seen the city officially designate it as a project. This project would most likely need significant state and/or federal grant funding. Below is the project description from the proposed STP: