Seattle Sun Newspaper - Vol. 6, Issue 12, December 2002

Copyright 2002 Seattle Sun. Please feel free to use the article and photos below in your research. Be sure to quote the Seattle Sun as your source.

Controversy over trail plan
pits businesses vs. bikes

By LEAH WEATHERSBY

The Seattle Department of Transportation is currently seeking public comments regarding three proposed alternative routes that would extend the popular peådestrian/bicycle path from 11th Avenue NW, where it currently ends, westward into south Ballard. The department, also known as SDOT, wants to complete its study on the subject by the end of the year.

The three alternative routes proposed by the City include a highly controversial path that starts at NW 45th Street and 11th Avenue NW and then runs along Shilshole Avenue, right through the Ballard neighborhood's industrial core.

It isn't known when the Mayor and City Council will make a final decision, and there's currently no money earmarked to build the south Ballard link. But SDOT officials believe the project could receive federal funding in one to three years.

The proposed 1.5-mile extension of the Burke-Gilman would link the existing trail, which ends at 11th Avenue NW, with two new legs. The first is from the Ballard Locks to NW 60th Street (to start construction in 2003) and the second from NW 60th to Golden Gardens (to start in 2004).

Two of the three alternatives would route trail users through the middle of Ballard. One goes up 11th Avenue NW, then along NW 57th Street and down to the Locks via 28th Avenue NW. The other goes from NW 46th Street to Ballard Avenue NW and then along NW Market Street.

The Shilshole route is favored by a citizens group called Friends of the Burke-Gilman Trail. "(Shilshole) is the only one that really provides for a separated trail," said Kevin Carrabine, a board member of the group. "It's the simplest route in that it connects the dots." Carrabine believes the Shilshole route is the safest and will attract commuters. "The other routes will cross more arterials to get from point A to point B, no ifs, ands or buts about it."

But some local businesses oppose the proposed Shilshole route, saying it would put bikers and walkers in direct conflict with trucks and trains making deliveries to Ballard's industrial area.

"The Burke-Gilman Trail is nothing more than a park," said Warren Aakervik, owner of Ballard Oil. Aakervik is one of several business owners who fear that truck-bicyclist accidents would be inevitable if the Shilshole trail were to be built. He added that the trail wouldn't help bike commuters because it doesn't go past Ballard's retail or residential areas.

Friends of the Burke-Gilman Trail said they took a survey of businesses along the Shilshole route last year in which 54 percent of those who responded either favored the trail or were neutral.

Peter Lagerwey, supervisor of SDOT's bicycle and pedestrian program, said the South Ballard link of the Burke-Gilman could be the most difficult to design, from a political standpoint in the trail's nearly 30-year history.

The existing Burke-Gilman trail is built on land that was once used for train tracks. When Burlington Northern started abandoning those tracks in the 1970s, King County, and then the City, stepped in to purchase the land for the trail.

Looking towards future expansion, the City which already owned the land under the Ballard tracks also hoped to turn the corridor into a trail once the route was abandoned.

Federal rules state that train tracks can only be removed if no railroad steps forward to purchase them. In the case of the three-mile line that starts at 6th Avenue NW and NW 40th Street and ends near NW 67th Street, someone was interested when Burlington Northern decided to relinquish its Ballard line in 1996.

That someone was Byron Cole, a former sawmill industry consultant who was interested in short-line railroads and was looking for a job that required less travel.

Cole partnered with the Burlington Northern route's Ballard customers, Olson Furniture, Salmon Bay Sand & Gravel and Western Pioneer Shipping Services. Together they formed the Ballard Terminal Railroad (BTR).

The City and BTR reached an agreement in which the railroad would buy Burlington Northern' tracks and equipment and the City would buy the dirt underneath. (Lagerwey stressed the the City wants railroads to continue to operate in Seattle.)

Under the agreement, the City required BTR to run at least 30 train cars along their railway every 18 month. BTR has far exceeded that goal running 225 train-car loads through Ballard this last year alone. Although improving the tracks required a large capital investment, Cole said the company is doing well eying new customers who currently rely exclusively on long-haul trucks.

But all isn't well as far as Cole is concerned. He said BTR's agreement with the City shows bike lanes being built on the north and south segments of his tracks (areas where a trail already exists or will be under construction in the next two years.) Those portions don't bother him.

However, Cole said the Shilshole segment is a problem because it is narrower so narrow there won't even be room for a fence between trails and bikes in some areas.

The addition of a trail to Shilshole Avenue would be so damaging, he says, he's ready to sue to keep it out.

The City takes a different view. "You won't find anything in those agreements that says you can't build a (trail) along Shilshole," said Lagerwey, who added that SDOT doesn't want to hinder the railroad. He believes it may be possible for the two modes to use Shilshole Avenue. Asked if he thinks Shilshole Avenue is safe for bicyclists, Lagerwey said, "I personally feel safe," but added that he's been biking for 45 years.

Other concerns have been raised about the Shilshole route from the potential loss of parking along the street to the cost.

Bob Allison, a Ballard resident and board member of the Seaview Neighborhood Association, said that the project is just too expensive.

Early cost estimates for the South Ballard link range from $2.5 million for Ballard Avenue/Market Street route to $3 million for the 57th Avenue Route to as much as $9 million for the Shilshole route. These costs could be brought down if SDOT forgoes some bells and whistles, said Lagerwey.

Lagerwey also added that the Shilshole route is not the only one to draw criticism.

"We've had safety concerns about all three routes," he said.

"Wherever (the trail) goes it's going to wipe out a strip of ground," said Cole. "I don't think anyone wants the trail on their street."

* * *

For more info, call SDOT at 684-5184.