Eastside rail corridor

Photo: Lorrie McKay, Office of the King County Executive

Options for both a public trail and a rail line are now preserved with the County Council's unanimous approval May 5 of an historic agreement with the Port of Seattle to bring the BNSF Eastside Rail Corridor into public ownership.

Under an agreement that caps three years of public debate, the Port of Seattle will pay the below-market price of $107 million to BNSF Railway to acquire the 42-mile Eastside Rail Corridor, and King County will pay the Port $1.9 million for a 26-mile easement that runs from Renton to Woodinville and includes the segment known as the “Redmond Spur.” As agreed by the Port and the Council, the existing railroad tracks will remain in place while a public process is conducted to evaluate the best use for the corridor, including the location and size of a public trail to run alongside the rail line.

The legislation calls for a multi-agency regional process to plan and recommend appropriate uses of the corridor, at the conclusion of which the County and the Port will make a joint decision on the size and location of the trail. Over the next two months the Council and Port will decide the timeframe, agency participation and resources for that public process, for adoption by Council ordinance by July 15.

Under the legislation King County will retain the right of first refusal for the purchase of parcels within the corridor if the Port ever decides to sell them. The County also retains an escape clause under which its $1.9 million would be returned if no agreement can be reached after five years on the size and location of the trail. The legislation notes King County’s appreciation of the Port’s efforts to bring the corridor into public ownership.

The agreement is the culmination of a process that began in 2003 when BNSF announced its intention to sell the corridor. In partnership with the Port, King County acted to prevent the corridor from being broken up and sold for private development. While the original proposal in 2005 called for the County to trade ownership of King County International Airport (Boeing Field) and the Fisher flour mill property in exchange for the corridor, the Council worked closely with the Port to partner on the new arrangement approved today by the Council.

The purchase and sale agreement is set to be closed by the end of this year, after which the County and Port have 18 months to determine where the trail should go.