As we reported previously, King County is trying to come up with a better name for the Eastside Rail Corridor, and they have narrowed it down to four finalists: The E, The Eastrail, The 425 and the Eastway.
You can let them know what you think of these names via their online survey.
First off, I’m glad the names are short. “Eastside Rail Corridor” is a mouthful, and it doesn’t do a good job of describing a corridor that no longer has very much rail since Kirkland and King County have removed most of it (though Sound Transit is adding some for a stretch in Bellevue).
I can’t say any of these names immediately jumps out, and part of the problem might be that they are trying to rename a corridor without pigeonholing it to a single use. So while Seattle Bike Blog has for years been referring to the trail portion of the corridor as the “Eastside Trail,” that name does not include potential transit uses alongside the trail. “Eastrail” is the only name the contains the word “trail,” but it does so in a way that could also be read as “EastRail.”
Ultimately, it doesn’t really matter what they name it. The people will decide in time what it will be called. If the official name is good, then it will stick. If not, people will find their own term.
Want to make your case for any of the four names here? Do so in the comments below.
Comments
20 responses to “Would you bike on the ‘E?’ How about the ‘Eastway?’”
I like “Eastrail” with a following description of the segment, similar to the “Issaquah to Preston” and “Preston to Fall City” trail names.
The Eastside Rail Corridor is comprised of several different segments and spurs. For general wayfinding, segment-based naming would be very helpful.
I’m not a fan of “The E” as it’s too similar to the “E” RapidRide bus line.
Suggested Segment Names:
– Eastrail: Renton to Eastgate
– Eastrail: Eastgate to South Kirkland
– Eastrail: South Kirkland to South Woodinville
– Eastrail: Woodinville West Ridge
– Eastrail: Redmond to Woodinville West Valley
– Eastrail: Snohomish River
– Eastrail: Woodinville to Snohomish
I’m actually not that wed to “Eastrail,” I think it’s just the simplest of the offered options for adding-on the segment names.
Why not “Eastside trail?”
Eastway, to me, suggests it is a way to go east.
+1
Calling it the Eastside trail is most intuitive.
Hate all of them. “The E” is too cute. “Eastrail” definitely reads to me as “East Rail”, and reading it as “EasTrail” is trying even harder to be too cute and hip. “The 425” is head-scratching for a route that follows a narrow path of a rather vast area code, including none of the most populated parts of Snohomish County. “Eastway” is least bad but D Reeves’ point is taken. If you don’t want to commit to it being solely a trail, why not “Eastside Corridor”?
I have always called it the Eastside Corridor, as it is open to any modality. The 425 is too close sounding to the 405, and sounds too much like a freeway, which it definitely is not. I agree with your take on E and Eastway.
I had only read it as East Rail, and liked it for that reason. I like it because then it fits thematically with the Interurban.
Eastside Rail Trail !!!!
Rail implies gradual altitude rises and falls. Nice for cyclists to know. KISS. Keep it Simple! And clear. Proposed 4 names stupid.
I agree, they are all terrible. Time to go back to the drawing board.
How about the ERC?
That’s what people will continue to call it, despite the official name.
What about the “War on Cars Personnel Transportation Corridor and Armament Supply Line”?
I suppose that might be too wordy …
Ah, yes, the War on Cars. That war is certainly devastating the Eastside, isn’t it? Why, you can barely find a car on the streets on Bellevue anymore, what with the bicycles having taken over. I’m afraid that some species of automobile might go extinct!
Don’t locals already call it the “ERC” (Eastside Rail Corridor) or the “CKC” (Cross Kirkland Corridor)?
Why does it need a new, weird, name, that might not even stick?
All try too hard to be cute. Estrail is the least-awful, but if that’s the name, I expect most people will use something else that describes where it is and where it goes.
Did anyone really adopt “Mountains to Sound Greenway Trail” for the I-90 Trail? I-90 tells you where it is and what route it takes. Mutsug is an utterly ambiguous mouthful that I’ve never really heard spoken, only on signs.
I’d support selling corporate naming rights if it would get us the money to complete and fully pave the trail by 2020. “The Microsoft Surface” (see what I did there?)
nice idea and funny
I think we should call it the Iron Horse Trail for the same reason we should have left the other trail named the Iron Horse – folks will be riding their iron horses on the trail. Also includes the requisite amount of confusion and ambiguity to fit the regional naming convention. My second choice is University Station Trail.
Ha!
Easty McEastface.
😄