Two miles of Burke-Gilman Trail to close through summer

A two-mile stretch of the Burke-Gilman Trail through Lake Forest Park will close for up to six months of reconstruction work starting June 15.

The closure will be from Northeast 145th Street to Log Boom Park in Kenmore.

"This is the granddaddy of the regional trail system," said Doug Williams, spokesman with the King County Department of Natural Resources and Parks, which maintains the trail from the Seattle city limits to the Sammamish River Trail.

He said the summertime closure is necessary to provide enough daylight and warm weather for the work, as well as to accommodate a midsummer "fish window" of lower habitat impact from construction of a bridge over Lyons Creek in Lake Forest Park.

Surveys show that users make more than 1,300 trips on this section of the Burke-Gilman on weekdays. On sunny weekends, the number of trips can jump to more than 2,200.

Williams said the 2-mile stretch is the oldest section of the 18-mile trail; it's narrow and the blacktop is crumbling. According to the county, the 33-year-old trail's condition has deteriorated and no longer meets the American Association of State Highway Transportation Officials and King County's regional trail standards.

The trail now has limited sight distances due to encroaching vegetation and fencing, deteriorated trail surface, outdated intersection features and narrow bridge abutments.

The new trail will have a 12-foot-wide asphalt surface with soft shoulders for walkers and joggers, better drainage and improved sight distances.

In the meantime, there will be a detour once the county receives the needed permits from Lake Forest Park.

The detour, though, at 6.7 miles long, is not a very good one, Williams said.

"We were presented with no good alternatives, something that doesn't involve going up and down steep hills and crossing Highway 522," said Williams. "We were between the proverbial rock and a hard place.

"We've got more challenges on this 2-mile stretch of trail than perhaps anywhere else on our 175 miles of regional trails — steep slopes, a lake and state highway on either side, homeowners and an extremely active and diverse trail-user community."

There will be no access on the 2-mile section, which will be fenced off.

Bicyclists who use the trail for commuting are encouraged to use alternative routes, or even drive their cars, he said, adding that there is frequent bus service along Highway 522.

"Some folks will probably have to drive," Williams said, "an unavoidable consequence of doing the trail work."

Three Metro buses and one Sound Transit bus provide service along this corridor every three minutes during commute time, and all have bike racks. The county discourages people from biking on Highway 522.

The detour route will be signed and will be posted at www.kingcounty.gov/burkegilmantrail when it becomes final.

The redevelopment has been in planning and design for more than five years. The $2.69 million project has been awarded to contractor J.R. Hayes and Sons and is funded by the county parks-expansion levies and real-estate excise tax funds.

Susan Gilmore: 206-464-2054 or sgilmore@seattletimes.com