East Lake Sammamish Trail

Project summary

The East Lake Sammamish Trail (ELST) project includes design and construction of an alternative non-motorized transportation corridor and a multi-use recreational trail along 11 miles of the former Burlington Northern Santa Fe railroad corridor on the east side of Lake Sammamish. The trail will provide access to recreation, employment, and retail center in the Cities of Redmond, Sammamish, and Issaquah and complete a link in the King County regional trails system.

As described in the Project History, the development of the trail is occurring in two phases:

Phase 1, the Interim Use Trail and Resource Protection Plan

Phase 1, Interim Use Trail : The Redmond and Issaquah sections of the Interim Use Trail, were completed and opened in March, 2004. Construction of the last segment of the Interim Use Trail through the City of Sammamish was completed and opened in March, 2006. The Interim use Trail is now approximately 11 miles in length, beginning at Gilman Boulevard in Issaquah and ending north of NE 70th Street in Redmond. More information...

Phase 2, the Master Plan Trail

The proposed Master Plan Trail will be a multi-use facility to accommodate use by pedestrians, non-motorized wheeled vehicles, and equestrians. The propsed Master Plan Trail will be located in the same general corridor as the Interim Use Trail. The basic features of the Master Plan Trail include:

• Installation of permanent trail surfacing, including a combination of asphalt paving, soft surface for pedestrians/equestrians, and vegetated buffer;
• New restroom facilities, with drinking fountains, located at two locations along the corridor;
• New parking facilities at three locations along the trail corridor;
• Traffic control measures (signage) where the trail crosses private driveways or roadways;
• A stormwater management system to control runoff from the trail and parking areas;
• Retaining walls where needed to support slopes and reduce embankment areas;
• Improvements such as sidewalks and crosswalks at public access points;
• Litter receptacles, doggy litter bag boxes, and trail etiquette signs;
• Bollards at trail crossings to prevent unauthorized vehicles from driving onto the trail.

Project documents

The project documents section contains these records.

Maps

Project maps are available on their own page.

Parking, access points and restrooms along the trail (PDF, 728KB)

Permits and environmental review

Project schedule

Citizens Advisory Group (CAG)

Contractor and/or Consultant

Staff contact