(Channeling a bit of Burt Bachrach here!)

Running late to work and traffic is backed up? What to do…Perhaps a  ferry will be at The Kirkland City dock to pick you up. A flash from the past may hit Kirkland. Ferry service was the way to cross the lake until the ‘state of the art” floating bridges were built in the mid 20th century.  Kirkland has been selected by King County for a new ferry service between the University of Washington and the town dock or Carillon Point. 

 It looks like the ink is dry on the contract between The King County Council and The Port of Seattle.  Last week  it sounded as if there would be a trail alongside the BNSF tracks here in The Highlands, although last evening’s Seattle PI article did not mention any guarantees.  Here is what was reported in The Seattle PI by Neil Modie:

“According to the memorandum, Sims will seek an agreement with the port by June 30 for the county to purchase two segments of the corridor: a six-mile section from Renton northward to the Wilburton tunnel, and a seven-mile spur between Redmond and Woodinville south of Northeast 145th Street.”

Buying those segments outright would cost the county an estimated $42.5 million, Triplett has said.”

  If you follow my posts on the BNSF train tracks, you can see it has been quite a ride and it’s not over just yet.

 The latest version sounds like this:  The tracks are to be ripped up from Bellevue to Renton because of 405 expansion and the removal of the Bellevue trestle.  The tracks are to remain in place from Bellevue to Snohomish. It sounds as if a trail may be under consideration from Bellevue to Redmond, running right by the Highlands, while keeping the existing tracks.    My guess  is there will be tracks, although not in use. The hope is this will be with the addition of a trail. The line from Redmond to the Woodinville will be sold to the county and looks more likely to be a trail. 

 Whew!  An interesting and convoluted compromise.   The important issue for The Highlands is it looks as if there’s still no guarantee we will receive the trail by our neighborhood.  The County and the Port want to reserve the right to keep tracks in place in case they decide to use them in the future. 

“The agreement provides that the corridor will be considered for “dual usage” to allow “trails and rails to be developed” on it.” (Seattle PI’s Neil Modie)

My concern for both the ferry service and a train, if it ever comes to pass many, many years from now, is parking for commuters, ferry stops, train stations, bridges over intersections, etc? 

Where will all the infrastructure be? 

Where is there space for all of this?

Will commuter parking downtown impact spaces for shoppers at the local merchants? 

How and who will pay for all us?

The costs to redo the tracks, redo existing bridges, build new bridges and parking garages is enormous.  I think it could be years, maybe even decades,before all this is sorted out, never mind acted upon.  King County has  had trouble resolving transportation issues for years, most recently with the defeat of Proposition 1. Given this “track” record, my guess is this will be an issue discussed for many years after we are all long gone!

 I have not heard or read anything about how these other issues will all be resolved.  Here is a bicycle enthusiast’s take on the project. If you have heard about plans to deal with these issues, I would love to hear from you. What is your opinion about all this?

 Bottom line for The Highlands, Kirkland, Juanita, and much of Bellevue,  don’t put your jogging shoes on just yet!