Upgrades and paving for East Lake Sammamish Trail this spring

The 11-mile-long East Lake Sammamish Trail that links the communities of Redmond, Sammamish and Issaquah has been undergoing a structural and cosmetic makeover during the past few years.

A cyclist heads south from paved to gravel section of East Lake Sammamish Trail.

The abandoned BNSF Railroad right-of-way that skirts the east side of Lake Sammamish opened 8 years ago this month as a narrow, gravel pathway that rolls past toney lakefront homes.

Long-term plans call for King County to upgrade the gravel path to a 12-foot-wide paved trail with 2-foot soft surface shoulders its entire length. It would serve as a blacktop link in a trail system more than 40 miles long that comprises the Burke-Gilman, Sammamish River, Marymoor Park, and the Issaquah-Preston trails.

More information is available online at the East Lake Sammamish Trailproject website. You can find Real-time updates online. And an FAQ for the East Lake Sammamish Trail improvements is posted here.

Two sections are complete. They are the Redmond Segment (1.2 miles between NE 70th Street and 187th Avenue NE) and the Issaquah Segment (2.2 miles between SE 43rd Way and Gilman Boulevard).

East Lake Sammamish Trail

Sometime this spring April 21 is the expected start the county will close down the 2.6-mile-long North Sammamish Segment between NE 187th Avenue and Inglewood Hill Road NE to begin the improvements there.

The blacktop will make for easier travel for bicyclists, as well as skaters, and the widening will make the trail safer for more users. Intersections and driveway crossings will be improved as will fencing and sight distances.

Still, I expect the upgrade will change the scenery along the trail, so I rolled over there last week to photograph scenes along the North Sammamish Segment that will no doubt change.

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Upgrades and paving for East Lake Sammamish Trail this spring