Just five days before the trail is set to close for the summer, King County has released the officially-approved and signed detour route. It is even longer and more out circuitous than the original detour plan and involves 20 steps before joining again with the trail.
The county can only sign a detour approved by the City of Lake Forest Park, and LFP had been stalling and debating the planned route until Friday, when this route was approved. Permits to put up signs will be issued June 13, two days before the closure. The state and county are still urging people who ride bicycles to use other means of transportation for the next six months and caution against riding on Hwy 522, though it is legal.
It is irresponsible of our state to refuse accommodations on 522, especially in light of the lack of an alternate route for people riding bicycles. Commuting by bus will cost each bicycle commuter about $500 over the summer. Driving costs even more and will increase congestion on 522. For the state to simply assume that everyone riding the trail can afford this massive increase in cost is irresponsible. People in our region depend on their bicycles for transportation. Many people use bicycles as a way to live within tight (or nearly nonexistent) budgets.
People are going to keep riding, whether the trail is closed or not. Hopefully this detour or another safe option will work for them. Otherwise, you will find them on the completely accommodation-free 522, fending for themselves without any help from the state, which chose not to make this road safe for all legal road users.
From King County:
King County Parks has worked collaboratively with the City of Lake Forest Park, the City of Seattle, the City of Shoreline, the City of Kenmore, the Cascade Bicycle Club and many other stakeholders over the last year to identify a safe, temporary detour route to be used during construction of the Burke Gilman Trial. The City of Lake Forest Park just today committed to an issuance of permits on June 13 for the detour (attached) around the Burke Gilman Trail construction area. The County also received permission to begin installing detour signage. Only when we had the City’s commitment could we publish the detour on the project, which you can now find on the project webpage www.kingcounty.gov/burkegilmantrail. Construction updates will be posted to this web site weekly, and to receive notification of those updates, you can also subscribe to King County Parks’ construction alerts at www.kingcounty.gov/parksalerts or like King County Parks on Facebook at www.facebook.com/iheartkcparks.
The County has been working with stakeholders for nine months to identify and gain permit approval for a detour. Users should know the detour is significantly longer, circuitous and hilly. For many riders and commuters, the best option will be to avoid cycling and ride the bus or carpool until construction is complete. King County is encouraging commuter cyclists to first consider using Sound Transit and King County Metro buses equipped with bike racks during commute hours or carpooling as a temporary alternative during the trail closure. Additionally there are bike lockers available at the Kenmore Park & Ride lot and at Lake Forest Park Towne Center.
King County, Lake Forest Park and the Washington State Department of Transportation are strongly encouraging commuter cyclists not to ride on SR522 during the trail closure. Safety is the County’s top priority, especially considering that there will be increased traffic on SR522 in the Lake Forest Park area as a result of the upcoming tolling on SR520.
We understand this construction project presents a significant, temporary inconvenience, but we believe that the safety improvements we’re making to this section of the Burke-Gilman Trail will benefit trail users for many decades to come.
Here are the step-by-step directions for the detour, which will be signed next week:
Turn‐by‐Turn Directions (subject to permit approval)
Heading southbound from Kenmore
• Divert from trail at west end of Logboom Park.
• Travel SW on Beach Drive NE.
• Turn right on Ballinger Way NE and cross SR
522.
• Use sidewalk on west side of Ballinger Way NE.
• Turn left onto NE 178th St.
• Turn left onto 37th Ave NE.
• Turn right onto NE 156th St.
• Turn left onto 33rd Ave NE.
• Turn right onto NE 155th St.
• Turn left onto 27th Ave NE.
• Turn left onto NE 150th St.
• Turn right onto 28th Ave NE.
• Turn left onto LDS private road.
• Turn right onto 30th Ave NE.
• Turn left onto NE 145th St.
• Turn right onto 35th Ave NE.
• Turn left onto NE 105th St
• Turn right onto NE 104th Place, which
becomes 45th Ave NE.
• Turn left onto NE 94th St.
• Rejoin the trail at the trail connector.Heading northbound from Seattle
• Divert from trail at NE 94th St.
• Turn right onto NE 104th Place, which becomes
45th Ave NE.
• Turn left onto NE 105th St
• Turn right onto 35th Ave NE.
• Turn left onto NE 145th St.
• Turn right onto 30th Ave NE.
• Turn left onto LDS private road.
• Turn right onto 28th Ave NE.
• Turn left onto NE 150th St.
• Turn left onto 27th Ave NE.
• Turn right onto NE 155th St.
• Turn left onto 33rd Ave NE.
• Turn right onto NE 156th St.
• Turn left onto 37th Ave NE.
• Turn left onto NE 178th St.
• Use sidewalk on west side of Ballinger Way NE.
• Turn right on Ballinger Way NE and cross SR
522.
• Travel SW on Beach Drive NE.
• Travel SW on Beach Drive NE.
• Rejoin trail at west end of Logboom Park.
Do you prefer a variation on this detour route? Be sure to leave it in the comments. Perhaps we can come up with our own detour that is faster and/or safer than the official route. After all, we have the added advantage of not needing permission of Lake Forest Park.