Repairs, improvements lead to temporary closures on Sammamish River Trail between Woodinville, Redmond

Cyclists who use King County's Sammamish River Trail as part of their daily commute won't be affected by a construction project to repair and improve the popular regional trail. Once construction has been completed, riders, runners and walkers will all benefit from a wider, smoother trail.

King County road crews will repave and widen the trail to 12 feet, from its current 10-foot width. The work will lead to intermittent closures and restrictions on the trail for one month beginning July 10 from the intersection with Northeast 145 th Street in Woodinville south to the intersection with Northeast 124 th Street in Redmond.

Rather than totally closing the 1 ½-mile stretch of the trail during commute hours, a temporary access adjacent the trail can be used by cyclists who use the trail as a commuting corridor, said KK Soi, King County Parks project manager.

The trail and the temporary access will be closed between 9 a.m. and 3 p.m. No trail work will be done on weekends.

While trail users will be able to use the trail's shoulder to detour around most of the construction work, Soi said a small section of the trail where the right of way is extremely narrow will have to be completely closed for one day -; possibly July 11 or 12.

The affected area is adjacent the Redwood Apartments, south of the trail's intersection with Northeast 145 th Street.

An additional 24-hour closure of this section will be needed so that the asphalt can cure. Soi said the exact date of the trail's closure is impossible to predict, because of potential delays brought on by bad weather or other unforeseen circumstances.

New informational signs have been installed at seven different locations along the trail from Bothell to Redmond that alert trail users to the pending restrictions and closures.

The project's end date is currently set at Aug. 8. Sammamish River Trail users are advised to check the King County Web site for construction updates at www.metrokc.gov. More project information is available by contacting Soi at 206-263-7283, or karan.soi@kingcounty.gov.

The Sammamish River Trail is a 10-mile portion of the 27-mile-long Burke-Gilman Trail. The Burke-Gilman begins in Ballard and follows an old railroad right-of-way along the Ship Canal and north along Lake Washington. At Blyth Park in Bothell, the trail becomes the Sammamish River Trail and continues for 10 miles to King County's Marymoor Park in Redmond.

King County 's regional trail system features more than 175 miles of trails. The long-term plan calls for bringing that total up to more than 300 miles of trails that link together communities throughout King County. In March, King County Executive Ron Sims led a community-wide dedication ceremony for the completion of the East Lake Sammamish Trail, an 11-mile route that connects Redmond to Issaquah.