Bill Dawson Trail to Montlake Playfield will close for 5 years starting May 12

Well, I hope you enjoyed the recently redesigned access to the Bill Dawson Trail while it lasted because the trail connection from Montlake Blvd to Montlake Playfield is closing May 12 and will not reopen until 2030. Intermittent closures have already begun and will continue until the full closure.

The official signed biking detour goes far out of the way to use the new biking and walking bridge to Lake Washington Boulevard near the Arboretum while the signed walking detour will follow a more direct route. I suspect a lot of people on bikes will follow a route similar to the walking detour, using the sidewalks that have been part of the biking detours during the extended construction project in Montlake over the past decade. The detour map does not show it, but there is a steep and winding (surely not ADA-compliant) connection on E Calhoun Street at 19th Ave E for folks headed to the Playfield or Community Center. Is it bikeable? Well, that depends. Are you looking for a skills challenge?

The Bill Dawson Trail will be used as a construction staging and access point for building the new Portage Bay Bridge, which will itself have a walking and biking trail for the first time. When the Bill Dawson Trail finally reopens, crews will also restore access from the west side of Montlake Boulevard, which was removed during construction on the SR 520 project in Montlake. The trail will also serve a new role as the primary bike connection from the Montlake Bridge and 520 Bridge to the new Portage Bay Bridge trail.

The new Portage Bay Bridge will be a bit higher, so you will no longer feel like you need to duck as you bike under it. Image from WSDOT's Bill Dawson Trail closure FAQ (PDF).

Do you have another detour idea? Share it in the comments below.