Pradeep Hatcher, Public Information Assistant, No Phone Number Available
Monday, August 4, 2014 at 8:47 a.m.
Construction on Ben Burr Trail will most likely not happen this year.
The project to restore and pave Ben Burr Trail was originally planned in two phases, with the Liberty Park to Underhill Park phase to be constructed this year. The timeline for the bidding and award process, however, means workers would not be able to get the project fully paved before the end of construction season. The project's planners do not want to leave the neighborhood with a half-finished trail for the winter, so construction on Ben Burr Trail now looks set for 2015.
Right-of-Way (ROW) agreements with the property owners for the first portion of the project were just secured in late July, and planners are awaiting documents from the railroad to finish the ROW agreements on the second phase. Because of the federal funding source for the trail improvements, the ROW acquisitions must be certified by the Washington State Department of Transportation (WSDOT) and the Federal Highway Administration (FHWA). This process typically takes a minimum of three weeks, pushing the start of the bidding process into early September.
This fall, the full Ben Burr Trial project will be advertised to bidders, with construction scheduled for 2015. This will allow the entire project to be built at once, instead of in two phases.
The funding for the Ben Burr project comes from two federal sources:
Learn more about the project by downloading the EC Subsequent Public Presentation (PDF 4.5 MB)
