Burke-Gilman Trail Missing Link completion inching closer to reality

Meghan Walker Ballard

The decades-long saga of the Missing Link—a 1.4-mile long gap in the Burke-Gilman Trail in Ballard—is getting closer to design completion.

For years, the Seattle Department of Transportation has been trying to build the missing section of the trail along Shilshole Ave NW. Businesses along the corridor have been at odds with SDOT over the alignment, saying it’s too dangerous to have the trail alongside a busy commercial road. Years of legal battles have ended in a stalemate, up until fairly recently.

Back in early 2023, District 6 Councilmember Dan Strauss urged the city to reconsider the route that local business owners have long been in favor of: Rather than along Shilshole, the Missing Link would travel from NW Market St to Leary Ave NW and down 17th Ave NW, where it would rejoin Shilshole to connect to the Burke-Gilman Trail on the other side of the Ballard Bridge.

SDOT has been developing the design for the new alignment and is now at 30% design completion.

Some of the elements of the 30% design mark include (from Strauss):

  • Added signage and marking to clearly indicate shared use paths on the Burke Gilman
  • Changed Ballard Landmark frontage to include loading zones to promote safety
  • Widened trail in some places along Leary beyond the standard 10 foot path, as well as added some landscaping. Also improvement curb ramp widths to match trail widths.
  • Added ADA compliant bus stops and crossing areas
  • Curb bubs, curb widths, and crossing treatments were modified to accommodate freight movements along Leary Ave and Shishole Ave.
  • Added a new full traffic signal and marked crossing at 17th Ave NW and Leary Ave NW to safely connect 17th Ave Neighborhood Greenway to the Burke Gilman.

 In a newsletter, Strauss said they will continue to solicit feedback from the community around bus stop designs, intersection crossing along 17th Ave NW and Shilshole Ave NW, tree and vegetation planting, and trail signage.

SDOT will hold a public tabling event this Thursday, Aug. 22 from 11 a.m. to 1 p.m. at the corner of NW Market St/Leary Ave NW/22nd Ave NW to share information and answer questions about the project.

Photo: SDOT rendering of the Burke-Gilman Missing Link