East Lake Sammamish Trail clears final permitting hurdle

2005 Archived News

King County Executive Ron Sims today announced all permits have been obtained for building the interim East Lake Sammamish Trail paving the way for a July groundbreaking. Crucial funding is expected to be approved Thursday. This is the culmination of a process that began nearly 35 years ago when the East Lake Sammamish Trail (ELST) was first identified as a priority regional trail.

In 1998, King County purchased the 12 mile East Lake Sammamish rail banked corridor for $2.9 million from the Lands Conservancy of King County and Seattle (now Cascade Land Conservancy), which had previously purchased the rail corridor from the Burlington Northern Santa Fe Railway. In 2000, the Metropolitan King County Council unanimously approved a plan for interim use of the trail. Following five years of extensive environmental review, public outreach and input, and much litigation, the county's vision for a public trail will finally become a reality.

King County obtaining these permits now clears the way for the Puget Sound Regional Council's (PSRC) Transportation Policy Board to approve crucial funding for the trail, an action that is expected Thursday. The PSRC can now move the ELST project from "candidate" to "approved" status, which allows the county to move forward with using the federal transportation funds allocated for construction of the section of the interim trail in the City of Sammamish. The total cost to construct the trail is $1.6 million with $900,000 coming from federal transportation funds and the rest from real estate excise taxes set aside for parks and recreation. Once funding is approved by PSRC, construction of the interim trail will be fully funded.

"The public has waited a long time for this magnificent addition to King County's extensive regional trail system," said Sims. "Now, we can finally open a crucial link between the cities of Issaquah, Sammamish, and Redmond in what promises to be one of the best regional trail networks in the country. It has been a long time coming but we know it has been worth the fight to ensure the public's access to the spectacular waterfront trail in a rapidly growing area of East King County."

"It takes a coalition to build a trail and getting this trail open to the public has been a tremendous effort on the part of many," said Metropolitan King County Councilmember Dwight Pelz. "I can't wait to join the thousands of trail enthusiasts on the trail."

Sammamish Mayor Don Gerend said he is looking forward to a good working relationship between the county, the city and trailside residents.

"Our City Council has worked hard to make this trail a reality," Gerend said. "But our job isn't over. We'll continue working with the county and our residents to make sure the impacts of the county trail are properly mitigated. We're already planning a community meeting so our residents' suggestions and concerns receive a full hearing."

"The opening of this crucial link gives our community access to a wonderful extensive regional trail system" said Sammamish Councilmember Kathleen Huckabay. "We are looking forward to working with King County and our community to provide the necessary parking, entry points, signage and public facilities to make this a successful and well used trail link."

In all, the county has obtained nine permits ensuring it will build the trail in an environmentally sensitive manner. In addition to the clearing and grading permit obtained yesterday from King County's Department of Development and Environmental Services, the county has obtained a King County Shoreline Substantial Development Permit, City of Sammamish Public Agency Utility Exception, NODES Construction General Storm water Permit, Hydraulic Project Approval, Section 7 Permit, Corps Nationwide 14, NEPA, SEPA Section 106 Permit.

Over the next few months, King County will prepare the trail for construction and hire a contractor in mid-June to build the trail. The interim trail will be constructed of five-eighths minus gravel spread on top of gravel and will not be appropriate for thin tired racing bikes or inline skates. The final paved trail will be constructed when a master plan is adopted by the King County Council and all relevant permits obtained. The Master Plan is expected to be submitted to council early in 2006.

"The Friends of the East Lake Sammamish Trail are excited about the opening of the trail," said Peter Goldman, a Seattle lawyer who has volunteered for the groups working for the trail. "And we're looking forward to working with the lakeshore residents to design a trail that works for the public and their privacy. It will be a pleasure to see them on the trail rather than in the courtroom."

The East Lake Sammamish Trail extends 12 miles south from the Sammamish River Trail Issaquah, WA. This will establish a 50 mile long continuous separated paved non-motorized route from Ballard in the City Seattle to Issaquah.

When the East Lake Sammamish Trail is completed King County will have one of the finest metropolitan trail systems in the U.S., with 50 miles of continuous, paved non-motorized trail. A cyclist starting in Ballard can follow the Burke Gilman Trail past the University of Washington to the north end of Lake Washington. From there the Sammamish River Trail runs east and south to Marymoor Park. The East Lake Sammamish Trail will run from Marymoor to Issaquah, where the cyclist will have a choice of whether to return to Seattle on the I-90 trail, or turn east and head up Snoqualmie Pass on the Iron Horse Trail, part of the Mountains-to-Sound Greenway.

Trails are very popular in King county. A 1995 count of trail users found that on a Saturday in May, between 3,300 and 4,200 use regional trails such at the Burke-Gilman Trail and the Sammamish River Trail.