The Lake Union Ship Canal Trail provides a key east-west link between the Magnolia/Interbay and Fremont communities.
Bridging the Gap (BTG) is making it easier to walk, bike and ride around the city. Over the first five years of the program, sidewalks have been built, bike lanes and sharrows installed, and improvements have been made to improve the speed and reliability of transit. An essential element of making it easier to move around the city is the installation and maintenance of the trail system across the city. Thanks to BTG, more than four miles of trail have been constructed.
Trail segments constructed include: the Burke-Gilman Extension to Golden Gardens, the Duwamish Trail, the Lake Union Ship Canal Trail, the Bradford Street Connector and the Burke-Gilman-Magnuson Park Spur. These segments help connect to the larger network of trails in the city and across the region providing key links between neighborhoods.
The Bradford Street Connector used to be a steep dirt trail.
While building the trails system is the first step, maintaining it is the second step! BTG provides valuable funding to help inspect the trails and make necessary spot improvements to keep them in working order. Since 2007, the Seattle Department of Transportation (SDOT) has inspected more than 100 miles of trail and made more than 153 spot improvements. Spot improvements include things like patching broken pavement, restoring missing signs, trimming trees and landscapes and general trail repair. In 2012, SDOT crews will inspect 35 miles of trail and make spot improvements to keep us moving along smoothly!