$10 million secured for the Eastside Rail Corridor trail

Bellevue budget adoption - hot on on the heels of King County's adoption - means the region is on track for a continuous trail between Kirkland and Renton, via Bellevue by 2020. 

Last Monday night, Bellevue City Council’s adopted their two year budget, including $2.5 million for the ERC trail. With the additional $7.5 million for the trail included in King County’s budget adoption in November, there is now $10.1 million committed to the Eastside Rail Corridor (ERC) trail during budget negotiations this fall. 

This means that planning, engineering and construction of the 28-mile multi-use regional trail connecting Bellevue, Renton, Kirkland, Redmond and Woodinville will continue over the next two years. 

The ERC is more than an Eastside trail! It will connect into and expand the regional trail network to the west and Seattle, and east to the mountains via Mountains to Sound I-90 trail, the SR-520 trail, the Burke-Gilman Trail (via the Sammamish River Trail), and the East Lake Sammamish Trail. 

500 Cascade supporters contacted the city and county councils to voice their support for the ERC trail, especially retrofitting the Wilburton Trestle as an iconic destination to visit and traverse along the future trail.

Here’s what your advocacy efforts HELPED achieve: 

• $2,000,000 for city of Bellevue towards the Wilburton Trestle retrofit, as part of a $10M public/private funding package.
• $7,503,000 for King County segments of the trail:
  • Final design for the Wilburton Segment in Bellevue, which is a funding priority because it will be the highest use section of the entire trail, and contributes funding towards the public/private funding package for the Wilburton Trestle.
  • Final design for NE 8th Street trail bridge in Bellevue, which is a critical connection through Bellevue’s downtown core to the Wilburton Link Light Rail station. A grade separated crossing will create a safe crossing for users of all ages and abilities.
  • Design and construction of trail and retrofits/repairs to trestles from I-90 south to Renton, which will enable users of the interim trail to safely make the connection to Renton.
  • Design and construction of trail user parking areas in the Lakefront Segment and sections of the interim trail, which will provide greater access to the trail as a recreational open space amenity.
• $100,000 for trail planning in the King County-owned segments added to the proposed budget by King County Councilmember Claudia Balducci.
• $500,000 for trail planning related to road crossings and access to/from the ERC in Bellevue added to the proposed budget by Bellevue Deputy Mayor John Chelminiak.

Thanks to you, King County and City of Bellevue councils know the importance of the trail to people within the community. 

Momentum for the ERC is building — subscribe to updates about the ERC trail and the Eastside Greenway Alliance -- be sure to tell us why the ERC trail excites you!

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