The Eastside Rail Corridor, officially Eastrail, is a rail

Right of way Right of way is the legal right, established by grant from a landowner or long usage (i.e. by prescription), to pass along a specific route through property belonging to another. A similar ''right of access'' also exists on land held by a gov ...

where a

rail trail A rail trail is a shared-use path on railway right of way. Rail trails are typically constructed after a railway has been abandoned and the track has been removed, but may also share the right of way with active railways, light rail, or streetcar ...

is under development in the Eastside suburbs of

Seattle Seattle ( ) is a seaport city on the West Coast of the United States. It is the seat of King County, Washington. With a 2020 population of 737,015, it is the largest city in both the state of Washington and the Pacific Northwest regio ...

Washington Washington commonly refers to: * Washington (state), United States * Washington, D.C., the capital of the United States ** A metonym for the federal government of the United States ** Washington metropolitan area, the metropolitan area centered on ...

. The corridor follows the path of the former

Woodinville Subdivision The Woodinville Subdivision is a railroad line that was formerly owned by BNSF Railway. It takes its name from one of its original end points in Woodinville, Washington, United States. The line extends approximately in east King County and Snohom ...

from Renton to the City of Snohomish at Snohomish Junction. The northern portion was still in operation in 2017 by Eastside Freight Railroad.

History

Acquisition

The

Port of Seattle The Port of Seattle is a government agency overseeing the seaport and airport of Seattle, Washington, United States. With a portfolio of properties ranging from parks and waterfront real estate, to one of the largest airports and container t ...

acquired the right of way of the former Woodinville Subdivision from

BNSF Railway BNSF Railway is one of the largest freight railroads in North America. One of seven North American Class I railroads, BNSF has 35,000 employees, of track in 28 states, and nearly 8,000 locomotives. It has three transcontinental routes that ...

through purchase and donation in 2008. On December 10, 2012, the King County Council approved purchase of of the right-of-way from Port of Seattle. A portion of the central corridor, named the

Cross Kirkland Corridor Cross Kirkland Corridor is a rail trail and linear park in the city of Kirkland, Washington. It is Kirkland's segment of the multi-city Eastside Rail Corridor on the Eastside Seattle suburbs. After acquisition, the corridor was approved by th ...

, is owned by the City of Kirkland; a spur to Redmond, named the Redmond Central Connector, is owned by the City of Redmond; a portion in downtown Bellevue was purchased by Sound Transit, and a northern portion of the corridor remains Port property for dual use as a trail and freight line. Some state residents brought suit against the Port of Seattle because the purchase was not used for freight in its entirety. In 2016, Snohomish County acquired the right of way from the King–Snohomish County line at Woodinville north to the city of Snohomish.

Opening

In January, 2015, the Kirkland portion of the Eastside Rail Corridor, with compacted gravel surfacing, opened for pedestrians and bicyclists. The Kirkland–Bellevue section was opened in July 2018, connecting State Route 520 (and its bike trail) to the

Spring District The Spring District is a transit-oriented development and neighborhood that is under construction in Bellevue, Washington. The 16-block, development is centered around the Spring District/120th station on the East Link Extension, a light rail l ...

. It was christened as Eastrail on July 20, 2019.

Eastside Greenway Alliance

In January 2016, community leaders gathered in Bellevue, Washington, for a one day summit about transforming the Eastside Rail Corridor into a multi-use trail. This was by no means the first such conversation; in fact, planning and construction of various corridor segments had been underway for years. The group envisioned a partnership of established and reputable regional and national nonprofits to collectively advocate for the trail. The Alliance would initially be co-led by Cascade Bicycle Club and The Trust for Public Land.

Cities and connections

Cities through which the corridor passes include: *Renton *Newcastle *Bellevue *Kirkland () *Redmond (Redmond Central Connector) *Woodinville *Snohomish

Trail connections

If constructed as proposed by King County, these other trails would or could link to the Eastside Rail Corridor: * Burke-Gilman Trail /

Sammamish River Trail The Sammamish River Trail is a bike path and recreational rail trail in King County, Washington that runs along the Sammamish River from Blyth Park in Bothell to Marymoor Park in Redmond as part of the “Locks to Lakes Corridor.” It connect ...

East Lake Sammamish Trail The East Lake Sammamish Trail is an recreational rail trail in King County, Washington that runs along Lake Sammamish from Marymoor Park in Redmond, through Sammamish, to Gilman Boulevard in Issaquah. History The trail had initially encountered ...

Cedar River Trail The Cedar River Regional Trail is a partially paved rail trail in Washington. The Cedar River Trail was the former mainline of the Milwaukee Road. It is open for non-motorized use and parallels State Route 169 for much of its length. It conne ...

Soos Creek Trail Soos or SOOS may refer to: People Surname * Frank Soos, American short story writer * Ricky Soos, English retired middle-distance runner * Rozalia Șooș, Romanian former handballer Places * Soos, Iran, a village in Qazvin Province, Iran * Sooß, ...

Snoqualmie Valley Trail The Snoqualmie Valley Regional Trail is a rail trail in King County, Washington. The trail follows a portion of the former alignment of the Milwaukee Road, which was constructed in 1911 and abandoned in 1973. The trail begins at Rattlesnake ...

Green River Trail The Green River Trail is a pedestrian and bicycle trail in King County, Washington, USA. It runs along the banks of the Duwamish and Green Rivers, crossing the river several times on bridges.Interurban Trail *

Snohomish County Centennial Trail The Snohomish County Centennial Trail is a rail trail in Snohomish County, Washington, connecting the cities of Snohomish, Lake Stevens, and Arlington to Skagit County along the corridor of Washington State Route 9. The trail, administe ...

*Lake-to-Lake Trail (Bellevue) *Lake-to-Sound Trail (Renton to Des Moines) *

Mountains to Sound Greenway The Mountains to Sound Greenway is a 1.5 million-acre landscape situated in the Pacific Northwest. On March 12, 2019, it was designated a National Heritage Area, to be managed by the Mountains to Sound Greenway Trust, as part of the John D. Dinge ...

Trail (I-90) * State Route 520 Trail * Tolt Pipeline Trail

Railroad ownership

BNSF sold the running rights to Tom Payne, GNP Railway, between Woodinville and Snohomish in conjunction with the sale to the Port of Seattle. GNP's partner,

Ballard Terminal Railroad The Ballard Terminal Railroad Company LLC operates two Class III short line terminal railroads in western Washington, United States. Founded in 1997 to operate a three-mile spur through Seattle's Ballard neighborhood, the Ballard Terminal Rai ...

, took over freight operations from

in January 2010. By 2011 Ballard Terminal Railroad was filing with other creditors in U.S. Bankruptcy Court for an involuntary reorganization of GNP. A short line terminal railroad operating in Seattle, the

, filed suit in the US District Court for the Western District of Washington and petitioned the

Surface Transportation Board The Surface Transportation Board (STB) of the United States is a federal, bipartisan, independent adjudicatory board. The STB was established on January 1, 1996, to assume some of the regulatory functions that had been administered by the Intersta ...

on April 1, 2013, seeking to prevent the City of Kirkland from removing the rail tracks for the planned trail. The Ballard Terminal Railroad wanted to keep the tracks intact for future rail freight use. On May 3, 2013, Federal District Court Judge Marsha Pechman granted the City of Kirkland's motion to dismiss the case filed by Ballard Terminal Railroad Company seeking to prevent rail salvage on the Cross Kirkland Corridor. In her oral ruling, Judge Pechman stated the Federal District Court did not have jurisdiction to consider Ballard's temporary restraining order (TRO) and that the Surface Transportation Board was the proper forum for adjudicating Ballard's claims. On August 1, 2013, the Surface Transportation Board denied the request by Ballard Terminal Railroad Company to block rail removal along the Cross Kirkland Corridor.

References

External links

Official siteEastside Greenway Alliance
coalition of non-profits advocating for the Eastside Rail Corridor Trail
Eastside Rail Corridor
at King County government website
Eastside Trail AdvocatesEastside Rail Now
{{Rail trails in Washington Rail trails in Washington (state) Geography of King County, Washington Transportation in King County, Washington