Sims releases draft EIS for East Lake Sammamish Trail

King County Executive Ron Sims today released the draft Environmental Impact Statement (EIS) for the first phase of improvements to the East Lake Sammamish Trail. The draft evaluates three alternatives for alignment of the trail.

King County purchased the 11-mile stretch of former Burlington Northern/Santa Fe rail line in September 1998 for development of a regional trail linking Redmond, Sammamish, and Issaquah, and preservation as a transportation corridor. The trail will provide a crucial link between the Burke-Gilman/Sammamish River Trail and the Mountains to Sound Greenway, and will connect two of the most popular parks on the Eastside - King County’s Marymoor Park near Redmond and Lake Sammamish State Park in Issaquah. The East Lake Sammamish Trail was first identified in an adopted County plan in 1971.

The East Lake Sammamish Interim Use and Resource Protection plan was prepared last year. As part of this plan, Sims called for an environmental impact statement to be prepared. The statement released today is the draft of that impact statement, and a public comment will follow through July 3.

The draft EIS evaluates three alternatives. One looks at an interim plan that would use the railbed for the entire 11 miles of the trail. Another alternative is a “bypass” where the interim trail would leave the railbed and travel along East Lake Sammamish Place SE and East Lake Sammamish Parkway SE for 1.6 miles, to bypass a section of the trail. A third alternative is to take no action.

The alternatives that examine interim trail development also outline the work that needs to occur to open an interim soft surface trail while a master plan is adopted and all development phases are completed. The interim plan was drawn up because development of the trail could take up to 10 years and issues surrounding public use during that time need to be addressed.

The Master Plan process for the East Lake Sammamish Trail has already begun. An integrated EIS process is being completed simultaneously with the Master Plan. It is anticipated that the Master Plan will be transmitted to the King County Council for review and adoption in the fall of 2001.

King County will hold a public hearing on the draft EIS on June 20, 2000, at 7:00 p.m. in the Carlson Theatre at Bellevue Community College. Residents attending the hearing can comment on the draft EIS.

Written comments also are encouraged on the draft EIS through July 3, 2000. Comments should be sent to the attention of Cheryl Fambles, Director, Department of Construction & Facilities Management, King County Administration Building, 500 Fourth Avenue, Room 320, Seattle, WA 98104-2337. Comments may also be sent by e-mail to: dcfm.sepacomments@metrokc.gov.

Copies of the draft EIS are now available for review at local King County Library branches throughout the King County Library System, and at a variety of King County offices. Copies of the draft EIS can also be purchased at the King County Administration Building, Room 320, Monday - Friday, between 8:30 am and 4:30 p.m.; and Issaquah District Court, 5415 220th Avenue SE, Issaquah, on Thursdays between 4:00 p.m. and 8:00 p.m. For more information, contact project manager Robin Cole, at (206) 296-4261, or by e-mail, at robin.cole@metrokc.gov.

After the public comment period is over, all comments will be responded to in the Final Environmental Impact Statement (FEIS), which is expected to be issued in August 2000. Sims will then make his recommendation for interim use to the King County Council.

Link to: East Lake Sammamish Trail project information provided by the Department of Construction & Facilities Management

Updated: May 19, 2000