Daily Journal of Commerce posted this story by Lynn Porter:
The city of Redmond has started building what will be a four-mile recreational trail on a former railroad corridor called the Redmond Spur, from the state Route 520 interchange to the northern city limits.
By September it expects to complete the first mile — through downtown — of what will be called the Redmond Central Connector.
Since acquiring the spur from the Port of Seattle for $10 million in 2010, Redmond has revamped its street grid to connect downtown with Redmond Town Center, said Parks and Recreation Director Craig Larsen.
“Up until about a year ago, this corridor split our town in half,” he said.
With a more functional street grid, the city now plans in the next two years to convert the one-way Cleveland Street and Redmond Way through downtown into two-way streets.
This mean better access to businesses and shops, and should make new development easier, Larsen said.
“There are a lot of properties that I think have languished because the traffic pattern is so difficult,” he said.
Larsen said the trail is already increasing property values along Cleveland Street, downtown's main pedestrian and shopping thoroughfare.
“Cleveland backed up to railroad corridor and you couldn't get any value out of that side,” he said. “Now we're improving that rail corridor, so you have basically two great fronts on your building.”
Mixed-use apartment and condo buildings along Cleveland are also being built to overlook the trail. “We're actually seeing people modify their plans to take advantage of this corridor,” Larsen said.
The Redmond Central Connector is expected to cost $9.25 million. It will be made of asphalt, concrete and pavers, and mostly will be 12 feet wide, though intersections will be up to 30 feet wide. Along the trail will be small parks and art. A light rail station is planned adjacent to the trail west of Leary Way and south of Cleveland Street.
The Berger Partnership did the master plan and design, and Road Construction Northwest is building the Connector.
The city intends to start construction on the last two phases this year and complete them in 2014. Phase two extends 1.3 miles to Willows Road and DigiPen Institute of Technology in the Willows business district. Phase three runs from there 1.6 miles to the Redmond border at Northeast 124th Street.
“We expect that this trail will deliver thousands of people into the Redmond downtown,” Larsen said.
Redmond wants to connect its trail to the one being planned by the city of Kirkland. In the short run, Redmond hopes to build 3/4th of a mile of shoulder and other improvements through a short section of rail corridor in King County to connect to Kirkland's trail. In the longer run, Redmond hopes to use more of the county's corridor to connect to the Kirkland trail.
Larsen said both cities have “very attractive downtowns” and there's interest from people in being able to live in Redmond and work in Kirkland or vice versa, using the trail to commute.
Pam Bissonnette, Kirkland's interim public works director, said her city is working with Redmond to connect the trails and foster the live-work scenario between the cities.
“We're very interested in that and seeing that synergy — definitely,” she said.
The city of Redmond has started building what will be a four-mile recreational trail on a former railroad corridor called the Redmond Spur, from the state Route 520 interchange to the northern city limits.
By September it expects to complete the first mile — through downtown — of what will be called the Redmond Central Connector.
Since acquiring the spur from the Port of Seattle for $10 million in 2010, Redmond has revamped its street grid to connect downtown with Redmond Town Center, said Parks and Recreation Director Craig Larsen.
“Up until about a year ago, this corridor split our town in half,” he said.
With a more functional street grid, the city now plans in the next two years to convert the one-way Cleveland Street and Redmond Way through downtown into two-way streets.
This mean better access to businesses and shops, and should make new development easier, Larsen said.
“There are a lot of properties that I think have languished because the traffic pattern is so difficult,” he said.
Larsen said the trail is already increasing property values along Cleveland Street, downtown's main pedestrian and shopping thoroughfare.
“Cleveland backed up to railroad corridor and you couldn't get any value out of that side,” he said. “Now we're improving that rail corridor, so you have basically two great fronts on your building.”
Mixed-use apartment and condo buildings along Cleveland are also being built to overlook the trail. “We're actually seeing people modify their plans to take advantage of this corridor,” Larsen said.
The Redmond Central Connector is expected to cost $9.25 million. It will be made of asphalt, concrete and pavers, and mostly will be 12 feet wide, though intersections will be up to 30 feet wide. Along the trail will be small parks and art. A light rail station is planned adjacent to the trail west of Leary Way and south of Cleveland Street.
The Berger Partnership did the master plan and design, and Road Construction Northwest is building the Connector.
The city intends to start construction on the last two phases this year and complete them in 2014. Phase two extends 1.3 miles to Willows Road and DigiPen Institute of Technology in the Willows business district. Phase three runs from there 1.6 miles to the Redmond border at Northeast 124th Street.
“We expect that this trail will deliver thousands of people into the Redmond downtown,” Larsen said.
Redmond wants to connect its trail to the one being planned by the city of Kirkland. In the short run, Redmond hopes to build 3/4th of a mile of shoulder and other improvements through a short section of rail corridor in King County to connect to Kirkland's trail. In the longer run, Redmond hopes to use more of the county's corridor to connect to the Kirkland trail.
Larsen said both cities have “very attractive downtowns” and there's interest from people in being able to live in Redmond and work in Kirkland or vice versa, using the trail to commute.
Pam Bissonnette, Kirkland's interim public works director, said her city is working with Redmond to connect the trails and foster the live-work scenario between the cities.
“We're very interested in that and seeing that synergy — definitely,” she said.
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