The paving has finally begun on the Trail reconstruction that has put several miles of the Burke-Gilman Trail just north of Seattle out of commission all summer and fall.
People using the trail today may encounter trouble with the detour stretch closest to Log Boom Park, which was repaved today. The trail segment should be open for evening commuters, though (we will update when we confirm this).
My Red Hook Brewery visits have taken a hard hit by the closure, but many other people have seen a vital transportation corridor severed. The detour options leave a lot to be desired, turning a couple miles of flat, separated trail into 5 or more miles of hills and highway crossings.
Basically, without cooperation by WSDOT to provide a safe bike facility on Highway 522, King County Parks was left advising people to try to suck it up and power through it. After all, the trail is going to be fantastic once it’s finished.
The entire project was scheduled to be completed by the end of the year. Doug Williams with King County Parks said they will have an official progress update later this week.
How are all you Burke-Gilman commuters holding up? Are you excited to get into the final stretch?
Comments
26 responses to “Burke-Gilman paving has begun, delays possible near Log Boom Park”
It sucks. It has sucked all summer. Though I’ve become a better climber for it!
The month of June was the worst when the trail was closed, but no work started for 30 days.
The south section from 145th St. north is still looking pretty rough. Not sure why with construction phasing the southern portion wouldn’t open first as it impacts the most commuters.
Hey, nothing like dancing with buses at rush hour on 522 for fun and games! This has to be one of the slowest projects known to mankind. Remember when the paved all of 405 in one long weekend from Renton to Bellevue @ I-90! One continuous pour and pave.
Yeah Gary I am with you. I think it’s all BS. But wth. I can wait another month+.
Word on the construction site is that even if parts of the trail are complete, the city won’t open it until December 15th. Maybe that will change, but for now expect to see a lot of completed trail from the other side of the construction fence.
2nd on the suckiness. I don’t mind the climbing, but I hate the route.
It’ll be so nice once it’s done, but with dark coming on early riding along 35th, 145th and down past LFP shopping center is not very safe even with a xmas trees worth of lights flashing away.
Hey – you should put a link to Evergreen Mtb Alliance in your Seattle Bike Links.
evergreenmtb.org
Will do! Thanks.
I seriously wish you people would stop bitching about the detour. It’s not that bad and there are a lot of political forces to be dealing with. Besides, the detour is a recommendation to follow only. It was only a matter of time before I made my own and I’m quite pleased with it. While I’m going to be happy as hell with the new changes, I still think it’s way to overpriced. But that’s grease in somebodies pocket I guess. Whatever. With the Ship Canal completion and this — my commute is going to be sweet. Yeah yeah — I’m a lucky b*stard.
And I like my new word ‘somebodies’. Could be a good marketing name for candy.
I can’t wait until I can start dodging bikers as they try to run me over while walking the trail. I’ve really missed the fun of trying to keep from being hit by bikers. Everyone knows that bikers can’t stop for pedestrians because if they slowed down they’d have to speed up again. I love those close calls when you can feel the metal of the bike as it swooshs by you.
Personally I am also a bicyclist and I also wish the people who ride the way you describe were all ticketed aggressively and run off the BGT for good. Let the flames begin!
(FWIW, I also wish pedestrians would stop walking 3 abreast as if there weren’t two-way bicycle traffic trying to share the route.)
Leroy, I see a lot of jerk behavior from other people on bikes on the trail as well. Rest assured that I dislike the trail racers and people who don’t call out as they pass as much as you do.
I am just not in that much of a goddamn hurry as some people, I guess.
One suggestion is for pedestrians to walk facing oncoming bicycle traffic. It’s the same as for facing cars when you walk. That way you won’t be as surprised when bicyclists appear on the same side of the trail as you.
I too hate bicyclists who whip past me at 18+mph without a nod, wave, or shout. But I also switched sides of the trail I was walking on and it was better for me.
On the trail all users should stay to the right, and the Burke-Gilman has signs to that effect. The speed difference between bikes and pedestrians is much lower than between cars and pedestrians. The only exception should be joggers who need to run on the packed gravel which is only on one side.
I totally disagree. I walked the I-90 bridge and it is unnerving for bicyclists to ride up behind you and then weave around. I wanted to knock them right off the dang bridge it was so annoying and I’m a very peaceful guy.
Please…stay to the right on all multi-use trails unless otherwise instructed by respective signage… to flout the rules because you dislike being overtaken is the same selfish logic that many bicycle riders are accused of all the time.
Besides, unless you concurrently call for the prohibition of all headphones, ear-buds, phones, etc…by trail pedestrians (and all others, to be fair) then you are only placing the burden on cyclists.
I would love to see a center line on all multi-use trails. It would help prevent many collisions and many, many near-misses.
Sorry but the burden is already on bicyclists, as operators of a vehicle they have to give way to pedestrians. Doesn’t matter where the people are on the trail.
Stay to the right. Please.
When trail users are mixed on the right and left you get many more choke points and issues with walkers dodging around one another. It is very unfriendly behavior and not recommended.
Basque was spoken in all of Europe as a comomn language,because almost all the population of Europe had migrated from the Sahara when the formerly productive land became a desert .New cults from Anatolia, all of them promoted male domination. Priests were sent all over Europe with orders to destroy the ancient religion of the Goddess, create nations,and invent new languages for each new nation.Every language had to be based on the basque language because there was no other from which to work
I gained 15 pounds from not having the opportunity to bike to work this summer and no alternatives to the BGT that offer some modicum of subjective safety.
On the other hand, I felt so frustrated at the loss of the single bike route that was available to me that I started volunteering a lot more for better biking around my ‘hood. ;-)
Thanks for the update on the trail!
I actually quickly grew to like the detour (my own slightly modified version of the “official” one anyway). The parts that went through Shoreline and LFP were very nice in the mornings and the evenings: peaceful and even fun due to hills. Introduced me to some new territory I would probably not have explored otherwise. But I’m definitely looking forward to the trail re-opening since it is simply faster riding on it than going around and through hilly terrain to boot.
I switched to the Interurban/185th/Perkins when the trail closed. The drivers on Perkins have been mostly very considerate of bicyclists, despite the road having no shoulder and being a slow grunt of a climb on my way home. 185th is another story altogether with drivers pulling out of sidestreets and driveways and making right turns while cutting me off in the bike lane. 175th also has a bike lane, but the pavement is in such bad condition that it’s unsafe to even travel in. We have some great north-south bike routes, but the few east-west routes leave a lot to be desired. I’ll be happy to get back onto the Burke for the dark days of winter.
i like that you used some ingenuity and rerouted your ride rather than complain about the detour.
I’ve really missed the BG trail and spent far too much time on busses and the sammamish river side since June! Discovered how truly scary it is to ride down 522 into lake forest park in the dark not long ago –its true that it doesn’t matter how many lights you have!
So, are we still looking at Dec for the re-opening? Or sooner???
Ok, sadly enough, the County’s plans are pretty clear on the signs at NE 165th. It is very clear that the planned opening date is January 31, 2012. Ouch.
The trail was closed at Logboom park this morning, May 15, when I rode in. Looks like they’re repaving the part that really needed it. Wish they would tell you before you get to the barricade so you don’t ride/walk down the trail for half a mile and end up having to back track to Ballinger Way and ride Bothell Way. Nonetheless, I’m happy there’ll be something smooth to ride on.