The Washington State Department of Transportation has been reconstructing SR 520, which connects Seattle to Lake Washington, into a modern, multimodal travel corridor. While bigger project includes bridge, highway, and light-rail elements, the project’s crowning attribute may be its new shared-use path.
Built in stages from east to west, the $16 million SR 520 trail reached Seattle in late December 2017 after the opening of a new west approach bridge over Union Bay. In just over three months, nearly 70,000 people had crossed the path’s electronic counter on Lake Washington. The paved, 14-foot-wide trail currently runs about 11 miles from the Eastside city of Redmond, home of Microsoft’s 40,000-employee headquarters, to Seattle’s Montlake neighborhood. From there, a five-minute walk leads to the University of Washington, the UW Medical Center, Seattle’s U-Link light rail station, and the popular Burke-Gilman Trail, a 27-mile path stretching from Puget Sound to Lake Washington’s north shore. The trail serves as an important connection through neighboring communities and allows for safe and convenient alternative transportation options.
America's Transportation Awards 