By Eckart in November, 2011
A short section at the north end of the trail has been paved and re-opened as of November 2011. You can now ride all the way from Issaquah to Redmond and beyond on this trail without having to use busy streets with narrow shoulders. I was surprised to see how wide the paved path is now. The paving is much wider than necessary, IMHO if the paving was 60% as wide as it is now, it would have been perfectly sufficient for busy weekend traffic in both directions with wheelchairs and baby strollers and bicycles in between.
The other good news is that the City of Sammamish has also almost finished construction of the new Sammamish Landing Park between the East Lake Sammamish Trail (ELST) and Lake Sammamish. There are two picnic shelters with four picnic tables, two BBQ grills, a space for a portable toilet and a short section of walking trail along a meadow. This is a beautiful new addition to the trail and the City of Sammamish should be congratulated to this achievement. That new park is worthwhile to make it a destination when you ride the ELST. See attached photos.
See
http://www.ci.sammamish.wa.us/departments/parksandrec/projects/SammamishLanding.aspx
There is no parking anywhere nearby, so the only access is by the ELST.
By trailbear in June, 2011
6.24.2011
Went out to see the ELST yesterday between engagements. Perhaps get a ride in. No go on the Redmond end. They certainly are paving. Piles of gravel, heavy equipment, trail heads fenced off, side trail into Marymoor Park closed, etc. Felt quite unwelcomed.
Drove down to the Issaquah end, which is open. Whereupon the Heavens opened. No ride. If you want to ride the ELST, start from the Issaquah end and you can get to within a mile or so of the Redmond end.
Went up I-90 to see what they have done with the Issaquah-Preston Trail. Stops short of the park in Preston, but that is a quiet road with wide shoulders. Not an issue. The lower end crosses the ELST in Issaquah, so you have the option of riding down from Redmond (when the paving is done), up the IPT to Preston, then get on the Preston-Snoqualmie. You can almost, but not quite connect the dots and get onto the Snoqualmie Valley Trail. A bit of road work here and there and you can take a long ride over the local mountains.
Ride on!
TrailBear
Who hates to get his fur wet.
By Eckart in March, 2011
http://www.kingcounty.gov/environment/dnrp/newsroom/newsreleases/2011/march/0303ELS-trail.aspx
March 3, 2011
East Lake Sammamish Trail paving work requires closure through Redmond stretch
Improvements require trail closure, but several alternatives available
A highly anticipated project to upgrade and pave King County’s East Lake Sammamish Trail (ELST) will require closure of a portion of the popular recreational and commuter corridor for up to nine months beginning this spring.
King County will begin to redevelop the ELST where it runs through Redmond, from Northeast 70th Street to the Redmond-Sammamish border at 187th Street Northeast.
Because of the narrow corridor, limited trail access, topographic constraints and the extensive scope of work, the two-mile-long trail segment will be closed to all trail users during construction.
The project includes replacing the interim soft-surface trail with a wider paved trail that makes it safer and more accessible to bicyclists, skaters and other trail users. Redevelopment includes constructing a 77-stall parking lot at Northeast 70th Street.
Bid opening for construction of the estimated $3 million project is expected later this month. Funding for the work is provided by the 2008-2013, voter-approved Proposition 2 Parks Expansion Levy.
Construction is scheduled to begin in May and last until November. During that time, ELST users will have to find an alternate route around the closed stretch of trail, such as bike lanes, sidewalks along Sammamish Parkway and Redmond Way, the Bear Creek Trail, the Washington State Department of Transportation Trail and Marymoor Park.
King County purchased the 11-mile-long East Lake Sammamish rail banked corridor in 1998 for $2.9 million from the Lands Conservancy of King County and Seattle (now Cascade Land Conservancy), which had preserved the option for public ownership of the trail when it stepped up to purchase the rail corridor from the Burlington Northern Santa Fe Railway.
In 2000, the King County Council unanimously approved a plan for interim use of the trail, including fencing, controlling trail crossings and installing an interim surface. The trail was dedicated in March 2006.
The ELST follows an historic railroad route along the eastern shore of Lake Sammamish within the cities of Redmond, Sammamish and Issaquah.
Access to the northern end of the ELST is off Northeast 70th Street in Redmond, near the east side of King County’s Marymoor Park. The trail continues south through Sammamish to Issaquah where it can be accessed via Lake Sammamish State Park's boat launch or Northeast Gilman Boulevard.
The trail is also accessible at numerous locations along its route, although no formal parking areas are currently provided. The ELST intersects with the Issaquah-Preston Trail in Issaquah near I-90, which provides a paved connection east within the Mountains to Sound Greenway Corridor.
East Lake Sammamish Trail is part of King County’s nationally acclaimed regional trail system – a 175-mile-long network of trails for bicycling, hiking, walking and horseback riding. The regional trail system spans an area from Bothell to Auburn and Seattle to the Cascades. The system provides extensive opportunities for recreation and non-motorized mobility and commuting throughout King County. Once the ELST is fully developed, it will be part of a 44-mile-long regional urban trail corridor from Seattle’s Ballard neighborhood to Issaquah.
More information is available at www.kingcounty.gov/eastlakesammamishtrail.