King County Executive Dow Constantine has extended gratitude to U.S. Senators Patty Murray and Maria Cantwell for orchestrating a $25 million federal grant from the U.S. Department of Transportation to aid in bridging a critical gap in King County's Eastrail. According to a King County News release, these funds will be used to retrofit a steel bridge spanning the 16 lanes of Interstate 90, marking a step toward the completion of the Eastrail, a 42-mile trail envisioned to connect communities throughout South and East King County to Snohomish County, with a spur to Redmond.
The investment, sourced from the federal RAISE Grant, will finance nearly half of the total $49 million required for the project. King County aims to create 1.7 miles of new paved trail and establish safer connections to the existing Mountains to Sound Greenway trail. "Senator Murray and Senator Cantwell have delivered a victory for regional trails, climate, mobility, and opportunity," said Constantine in a statement highlighted in the release.
Senator Murray, who credits the partnership of local nonprofits, government bodies, and businesses, highlighted the initiative's significance for both lifestyle quality and the reinforcement of local economies. "Expanding these kinds of trails does so much good for our quality of life while also connecting and strengthening local economies—being able to support these important projects is exactly why I created the RAISE grant program in the first place," she conveyed in the news release.
Once complete, Eastrail is set to provide direct connections to four of Sound Transit’s 2 Line stations and register as the north-south backbone of Leafline, a trail network interlinking several counties across the Central Puget Sound area. "With the help of our federal partners, we’re making yet another stride in creating a region-wide, climate-friendly transportation network," shared King County Councilmember Claudia Balducci in the same report. "And the timing couldn’t be more fortuitous as we have just opened light rail on the Eastside and the Eastrail NE 8th Street Bridge, recently broken ground on the Wilburton Trestle and will now be able to start work to safely cross I-90, bringing our longtime vision for this 42-mile trail from Woodinville to Renton close to completion," she added.
Additionally, the City of Woodinville received a significant grant of $5 million to progress the design, planning, and permitting for its own 2-mile section of the Eastrail. The funding reflects the concerted efforts of community support and partnership, as stated by Eastrail Partners Executive Director Katherine Hollis in the initial report. "This exceptional trail requires exceptional community support and partnership to complete," said Hollis. The Interstate 90 trail bridge project will be managed by King County Parks, a division in the Department of Natural Resources and Parks.
