Community members and stakeholders came together on September 6th, 2023, to celebrate the start of revitalization of the abandoned rail corridor running through the heart of Downtown Woodinville. You may have seen this railway along Woodinville-Snohomish Road or driven under it on 131st Ave. when coming off SR-522. Cities along the Eastside from Renton all the way to Woodinville have been working collaboratively to deliver a seamless trail system known as Eastrail. The Eastrail, is being developed as an uninterrupted, 42-mile multi-use trail extending from Gene Coulon Memorial Beach Park in Renton, north through Bellevue, to Woodinville and the City of Snohomish in Snohomish County.
For years, trail advocates and elected officials have been requesting that our segment of the shuttered rail segment be “railbanked” which is a federal statue administered through the Surface Transportation Board allowing a rail corridor to be preserved as a trail. With this decision finally being granted earlier this year, City Council was able to take swift action to secure a contractor to start pulling up rail spikes and get the trail built. With $2.5 million in funding support secured by Congresswoman Suzan DelBene (WA-1) through Community Project Funding (CPF), the City of Woodinville was able to celebrate a ceremonial golden spike removal to kick-off this highly anticipated infrastructure project.
This project will include much needed traffic relief entering the City by widening 131st Ave allowing for reduced congestion from SR-522 to SR-202 (Redmond – Woodinville Road). The widening project includes an Eastrail overcrossing (trestle replacement) that will serve as an entryway to Woodinville. Once a new overcrossing is selected, the existing trestle will be repurposed as a culvert replacement to support our local salmon population.
Woodinville’s portion of Eastrail is the linchpin between 175 miles of existing regional trails and will include a seamless connection to the Sammamish River Trail and continue into Snohomish County allowing for connection to the Centennial Trail. Commuters can also celebrate this upcoming transportation improvement as it will create a non-motorized connection to the Redmond Light Rail Station that will connect from South Bellevue Station to Redmond Technology Station, as early as spring 2024 and across I-90 to Mercer Island and Seattle at a future date.
Eastrail coming to Woodinville marks an exiting opportunity to bring safety improvements for pedestrians, traffic relief, and recreational options for our neighbors. To stay up to date on the entire Eastrail corridor, you can visit: https://eastrail.org/
