East Lake Sammamish Trail paving: northern section complete

Since the East Lake Sammamish Trail opened in 2006 with a crush stone surface, many bicycle riders have said they'd like to see it paved.

Their wishes have been granted, at least on a 1.2-mile section at the north end of the 11-mile rail-trail.

King County Parks says aribbon-cutting ceremony at 11 a.m. Monday in the new trail side parking lot on NE 70th Street will mark the re-opening of the Redmond section of the East Lake Sammamish Trail.

Paving the southern end of the East Lake Sammamish Trail in Issaquah is the next project on tap, expected to get underway in April 2012. That work zone will stretch from Gilman Boulevard to the Sammamish city limit.

More users

While the wider path and paved surface will mean faster and smoother riding for bicyclists, they should be prepared to see more trail users, such as skaters and bladers, who couldn't have used its gravely predecessor.

The county closed the northern 2 miles of the trail in May for trail widening, paving and other improvements. The 1.2 miles to open Monday stretches from NE 70th Street in Redmond to the city limits of Sammamish at 187th Street Northeast. It includes a 77-car parking lot on NE 70th. [Seen at left on Saturday, this section wasn't open for traffic yet.]

The remaining section in Sammamish appeared to be nearly complete, with the trail paved, when I visited the work site this past weekend. Bollards still need to be added and landscaping work is underway on two picnic shelters overlooking Lake Sammamish.

Ahead of schedule

The entire 2-mile project was expected to be completed by the end of the year at a cost of $3.4 million. It's more than a month ahead of schedule and under budget at a cost of $1.86 million.

Funding for the project was provided by the 2008-2013 parks open space and trails levy. Although approved several years ago, this bicycle trail work is the type of public works project that gets a bigger bang for the bucks in terms of employment than huge highway projects.

Locks to Lake

Eventually, King County Parks plans to pave the entire 11-mile trail, an abandoned Burlington Northern Santa Fe railroad corridor. That will create a 44-mile paved, off-road, bicycle trail all the way from Issaquah to the Ballard Locks in Seattle. See plans for the entire East Lake Sammamish Trail project.

Along the way, the “Locks to Lake Corridor” intersects with other regional trails.