Planning continues for construction closure of the Burke-Gilman Trail
Thursday, May 5, 2011
from City of Lake Forest Park *electronic town crier
As of the end of April, King County still had not selected a contractor to begin the construction on the redevelopment of the Burke Gilman Trail. However, once construction starts, King County will need to close the trail while work is going on. In order to allow non-motorized travelers to continue to move through the City, King County has proposed a detour.
King County explored several options for a detour. The objectives for the detour were to maintain the safety of pedestrians, cyclists and cars on public streets and to select a route that was likely to be used by trail riders. Earlier this year King County met with the City Council to look at alternative routes including over routing bikes through Kenmore and the Uplake neighborhood and then through NE 178th Street, through Sheridan Heights and then back to the trail. The other alternative was along the water.
In order to begin the detour, the County needed three permits, a right of way permit, a shoreline substantial development exemption and a sensitive areas permit. The sensitive areas permit requires notification and provides for a comment period.
At the end of the comment period the City staff will review the comments and determine whether or not the permit can be issued and the conditions to apply to the permit.
The comment period on this application which originally ended on April 29, 2011 is extended an additional 10 days to May 10, 2011, due to new information that has been added to application file. The City will not issue permits until the comment period has ended.
King County is planning to host two informational meetings for the residents of the area when the detour route is proposed and there is specific information about the timeline for construction. The City continues to work with King County on safe alternatives.
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2 comments:
Please consider a temporary bike lane during commuter hours, for the safety of our commuting cyclists through Kenmore -- LFP. This could be between the hours of 6-8am and 4-6pm, utilizing the bus lane. Buses can share, and slow down.
"Please consider a temporary bike lane during commuter hours, for the safety of our commuting cyclists through Kenmore -- LFP. This could be between the hours of 6-8am and 4-6pm, utilizing the bus lane. Buses can share, and slow down."
This is a great idea. Unfortunately, some irrational members of the LFP cycling community and Cascade Bicycle Club threatened to overwhelm the bus lanes if they didn't get what they wanted. The DOT has dug its heels in and is now threatening to pull the waiver that allows cyclists to use the Bus lanes legally in LFP. This is a direct result of the actions by a few who believe they know what is best for the many.
More rational cyclists realize that there is a compromise and are working to find a solution in the form of a safe detour and shuttles.
The threats and shouting by David Hiller and unreasonable Cascade members has to stop. There are plenty of cyclists, myself included, that are NOT represented by the angry, militant few that claim to advocate for cycling.
If we lose the right to ride on 522 in LPF, it is as a DIRECT result of the actions of a Hiller and a couple of militant LFP cycling residents.
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