UPDATE 10/3: The closure has been extended an extra week through October 11 after crews found additional “areas of rot” that need to be replaced, according to King County Parks.
King County Parks will close the Snoqualmie Valley Trail between the Riverbend neighborhood and Rattlesnake Lake from September 16 to October 4. Unfortunately, there will be no official detour or temporary biking and walking route.
The closure is needed so crews can repair a timber trail bridge structure memorably named bridge 2178-44. The Snoqualmie Valley Trail is a rail-trail that uses rather old railroad infrastructure. “Parts of the timber trestle structure have areas of rot and need to be replaced for safety,” King County Parks noted in their announcement.
The bridge in question in a remote and particularly beautiful section of the trail, and there are no nearby route alternatives. The best option from what I can tell may be to hop off the trail at SE 145th Street in Riverbend (first street after crossing the river heading southbound) and then wind through the neighborhood to take Cedar Falls Road SE to Rattlesnake Lake. Cedar Falls Road has significant sections without shoulders, and I have never personally ridden on it so I cannot vouch for how safe it feels to bike there. It pretty much only goes to Rattlesnake Lake, so it can’t be that busy, right? If anyone else has experience biking there or has a better route to suggest, please let us know in the comments below.
As a side note, the detour policy for trail closures needs some updates in our region (I’m looking at you, Spiketon Ditch Bridge team). First, a trail-like temporary route should be priority number one for any closure in which crews cannot safely allow trail users to travel through a work zone. But even in cases where a trail-like temporary route is not feasible, project teams should still be required to sign a detour to help folks who are just trying to get around by bike and perhaps have not read every post on Seattle Bike Blog before leaving home. Imagine an information sign at each closure point that not only outlines the detour route but also includes descriptions or even photos of the detour conditions. “Caution: Detour route includes arterial roads without shoulders. Discretion is advised.” Something like that. People can decide for themselves if they want to attempt the detour, but at least they will have a route to follow if they need one. This seems safer than relying on people to figure it out from a map or, worse, try to find a route that goes through using trial and error.
Comments
8 responses to “Alert 9/16-10/11: Snoqualmie Valley Trail closed north of Rattlesnake Lake – UPDATED”
I have been on the detour route you described, but downhill from the lake to SE 145th. The shoulders range from narrow to non-existent. It would be worse uphill. Plus there is a fair amount of neighborhood and Rattlesnake traffic, especially on weekends.
The detour route is really only for experienced cyclists comfortable riding on tight, busy roads. Very poor job by KCP.
I would never advise anyone to ride uphill on Cedar Falls Rd. (Begins at the freeway exit as 436th Ave SE.) It is steep, it has tight, blind curves, and zero shoulders. It is Street View’d, you can check it out from the safety of your computer. Drivers headed for the neighborhoods and the park can’t wait to get there. On a nice weekend day Rattlesnake is super popular.
A spur of Edgewick Rd SE crosses the trail (Edgewick lies to the east of the trail), but the spur appears to be private. King County should have negotiated recreational passage with the owners.
Last weekend, I’d encountered a closure on the SVT a bit north reported here:
https://livingsnoqualmie.com/snoqualmie-valley-trail-closure-announced-august-2-october-30/
It stops at Remlinger Farms, and becomes choose-your-own-adventure as far as a detour goes. That section of 203 is busy, and there’s not much of a shoulder, so I’d decided to call it a ride after starting in Duvall (it was a little over 30km RT, so not bad). It would be nice if there were suggested safe detour routes.
If you find yourself advocating for policy around route detours, also consider whether the duration of the closure is appropriate and necessary. I’m thinking of the Mercer Island sewer upgrade that closed much of the I-90 trail for long periods of time. The Island detours were unavoidable, but cutting the connection between the Bellevue Way sidewalk and the I-90 trail for the better part of three years was absolutely unnecessary. The actual work in this section took weeks. The closure was constant. If it’d been a road the county would have opened it back up every week for commuters.
https://kingcounty.gov/en/dept/dnrp/waste-services/wastewater-treatment/capital-projects/north-mercer-island-enatai-sewer-upgrade
Bike routes do not get the respect that car traffic routes get. I also have encountered that same SVT construction at Carnation. The detour signage and route is laugh-able, if not dangerous. I thought about contacting King County, I still might. The blockage, for months at a time, seems unnecessary. This would not be acceptable for a car highway.
I have been avoiding the Snoqualmie Valley Trail since I encountered that detour, which is a shame because its great fall gravel route.
Cedar Falls Rd. and 436th Ave are a cyclist death trap. Do NOT attempt to ride them either way, especially on weekends, as there are no shoulders, it can be very steep in places, and people drive like crazy, rushing to the lake for their “peaceful” day out.
This is terrible timing, as I have been planning a ride up and over the pass that weekend and this now really breaks up my formerly “safe and sound on the trail” ride. Thank you to King County Parks for doing any maintenance at all, but… really? No detours? We hear the wails of despair and rending of garments from car-dependent types every time there is a one-block detour to their precious roads. How about blocking off one full lane of Cedar Falls Rd. for cyclists and making cars take turns circulating via a one-lane red light system? I bet KC Parks would get the bridge replaced in 48 hours if that was the case…
I’ve never personally biked Cedar Falls Road, but I have driven that road downhill and encountered a bike in front of me. The bike easily maintained 25-35 mph and I just stayed behind him all the way down, as if he were on a motorcycle.
The problem is, many other drivers are not so considerate, and believe that anytime they see a bike in front of them, that they have to pass, even if passing would mean driving around tight corners way too fast.
Now do uphill.