Officials who want to build a commuter railway and bicycle trail on the abandoned BNSF railroad in Seattle's Eastside suburbs might be suffering sticker shock today.
A report estimates the cost for the 42-mile corridor at between $1 billion to $1.2 billion for the railway alone between Renton and Woodinville.
The cost of the 34.4-mile parallel bicycle / pedestrian trail is put at between $245 million to $359 million, or $7.1 million to $10.4 million per mile.
That's too much, says the Cascadia Center in its response, pointing out that the Rails-to-Trails Conservancy estimates rail-trail conversions cost between $227,000 and $1 million per mile. Cascadia says the commuter railway could be built for one-third the cost.
Piggy back
The background on this project is the Port of Seattle is buying the old BNSF corridor between Renton and Woodinville, and a spur line to Redmond, for $107 million. Originally, King County wanted to put a bike path on it, but now it's being considered as a north-south commuter railway. The pedestrian/bicycle path in an add-on to that commuter railway project in this study.
I perused the “Commuter Rail Feasibility Study“(.pdf) at the Puget Sound Regional Council website to see what it said about the pedestrian trail.
The bike trail would essentially run from I-90 north to Woodinville, and over to Redmond. The 7 to 8-mile stretch of right-of-way south from I-90 to Renton is too narrow in places for a commute line and a bike path. That area is served by the bike lanes and off-street bike paths of the Lake Washington Bicycle Route.
Bridges
The bicycle trail would require 14 new, replaced or improved bridges. The biggest three of these are:
— The new railway and trail bridge over I-405 at the former Wilburton Tunnel site. The bike trail would be placed on a cantilevered bracket on the side of the new railway bridge;
— At the 975-foot-long, historic Wilburton Trestle (above) crossing, the railway would get a new bridge while the pedestrian-bike trail would use the old trestle after about 30% of its timbers are replaced;
— The existing Snohomish River Bridge will be converted to trail use only as the railway gets a new bridge.
Other costs
Another reason for the high cost of the trail might be its location in the right-of-way. Instead of using the old railbed, the trail is either cut into a hillside or located elsewhere in the right-of-way, depending on the section.
In King County, the report compared the costs of a 12-foot trail would have total 15- to 17-foot-wide clearance with the less expensive option of an 8-foot-wide trail bounded by 2-foot-wide clearances. Snohomish County trail regulations call for 6-foot trail and 4.5-foot shouders.
A fence would separate the bike path from the railway.
More information about the BNSF corridor:
“Eastside passengere railway would cost $1 billion;”
Port of Seattle Eastside Rail Corridor website;
“Cascadia … rebuts implementation costs;”
Puget South Regional Council website on BNSF corridor study.
Recent Comments