City prepares more bump fixes on Ship Canal, Burke-Gilman, Duwamish Trails

A message of thanks from a citizen tree root bump painter on the Ship Canal Trail. Red markings are presumably from city crews preparing a work zone while orange is from a helpful trail user.

Both SDOT and Seattle Parks are working to fix annoying and potentially dangerous bumps on the city's trail network this month. The Ship Canal, Burke-Gilman and Duwamish Trails are all slated to get some love. SDOT crews already patched a stretch of the Ship Canal Trail near Fisherman's Terminal. I rode it yesterday, and it is so much better.

SDOT is handling the repairs to the Ship Canal and Duwamish Trails that should be underway this month (exact schedule TBD, so stay tuned). Seattle Parks is handling repairs to the Burke-Gilman Trail between NE 65th and 77th Streets with work planned to start September 8 and last three weeks (weather dependent). From Seattle Parks:

This section of the Burke-Gilman Trail will remain open and passable with temporary gravel ramps in place where asphalt has been removed. Cyclists are asked to dismount and walk through work zones following all detour signs. Please use extra caution in repair sections and expect travel delays during construction.

Though trail users can't usually tell the difference, the city's trails often shift back and forth between multiple public agencies. Some trail sections were purchased for the purpose of building a linear park, including the original sections of the Burke-Gilman Trail. That's why Seattle Parks is in charge of this section of work near Magnuson Park. Many of these older sections are showing their age and need more consistent maintenance. Other sections of trail were purchased using the transportation budget or use public right of way and are SDOT's responsibility. Other sections fall under the control of WSDOT, the Port of Seattle or the University of Washington. Beyond the Seattle city limit, King County Parks, King County Flood Control District, Sound Transit, the Washington Department of Natural Resources, Washington State Parks, utility agencies and local municipalities also control various sections of the trail network. Some segments are even more complicated, such as the Fremont section of the Burke-Gilman which runs along an easement on private land as part of a complicated deal back when the Adobe office buildings were constructed on top of rail right of way (this is probably worth a post of its own). I'm sure I am leaving some agencies out. It can be confusing at times to figure out who exactly is in charge of maintenance, and trail advocates must work to get trail maintenance into many different agency budgets and funding measures.