King County takes first step to purchase rail corridor

May 31, 2005

King County takes first step to purchase rail corridor

King County Executive Ron Sims, King County Council Chair Larry Phillips, Budget and Fiscal Management Committee Chair Larry Gossett and Natural Resources and Utilities Committee Chair Carolyn Edmonds today took action to secure earnest money for purchasing the 47 mile Burlington Northern Santa Fe (BNSF) eastside rail corridor. The County has signed an exclusive agreement with BNSF to negotiate for four months acquisition of the rail corridor.

Sims recently announced his intention to purchase the corridor and said his "priority is to use the corridor for a trail, though there is room for mixed uses along the corridor. I will spend the next several months meeting with city representatives and hearing from the public about how they would like to see the corridor used. The most important thing now is to get the corridor into public ownership. That's the only way to preserve public choice."

The earnest money would go toward the cost of acquisition if an agreement on a fair price can be reached. If an agreement cannot be reached, nearly all of the money would be returned to the county. Sims is seeking $3.8 million, a $3.5 million deposit toward the costs of land and property interests and the remainder for directly related acquisition costs such as appraisals, title documents, staff costs for negotiations and legal and administrative costs.

"The corridor has tremendous possibilities for a number of public uses," said Phillips. "We need to keep the community involved in deciding what to do with the corridor. Purchasing it now is the only way to keep all possibilities open for future use."

"This project will receive fair and critical review by the Budget Committee," said Councilmember Gossett. "No decisions about the use of the line will be made without a full and thorough regional discussion that involves all affected cities and parties."

"This acquisition has the potential to transform our regional trail network into one of the finest systems in the nation," said Edmonds. "Regional trails offer tremendous health and recreation benefits, and can be an important means of alternative transportation."

Last week, the Puget Sound Regional Council approved $380,000 for a consultant experienced in the legalities and public engagement around railway acquisitions and to assist the county with rail corridor preservation requirements.

The BNSF railroad right of way is a contiguous property approximately 100 feet wide that stretches from the north end of Renton into the City of Snohomish. The regional trail system now offers over 100 miles of paved and nearly 70 miles of unpaved trails. This link would help create a seamless regional trail system.