Mayoral candidate Ed Murray calls Burke-Gilman “Missing Link” fix “potentially dangerous”

Ed Murray recently called raised concerns over the proposed fix for the Burke-Gilman “Missing Link” in Ballard. He described the city’s proposed plan to connect the trail via Shilshole Ave “potentially dangerous,” according to an editorial from our news partners, The Seattle Times. Murray pointed to the industrial uses of Shilshole Ave, saying “it needs a second look.”

Mike McGinn vowed to pursue Shilshole Ave to fix the Missing Link in Ballard last December.

Murray’s Missing Link sentiment is at odds with Mayor Mike McGinn’s vision for completing the 20-mile bike path. McGinn has been outspoken about his interest in fixing the Missing Link in Ballard; he has been a proponent of using Shilshole Ave, which is home to more than a dozen industrial businesses. The city has recently been working on safety improvements for bicyclists along that route, including creating advisory bike lanes on NW 45th St, known as the South Ballard Corridor Safety Improvements Project.

The city is now working on an Environmental Impact Statement (EIS) to survey the route which would connect the Ballard Fred Meyer to the Locks. The city was forced to the EIS after a group of maritime and industrial businesses objected to the city’s proposed route on Shilshole. The group of businesses is hoping the city will opt instead for an alternative route that would lead cyclists up Leary Ave NW and then onto NW Market St via a cycle track.

Murray apparently recognizes the risk of questioning the city’s preferred Missing Link fix; as he’s quoted in the editorial, “There goes my bike support.”

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