Trail Mapping 2.0
RTC is partnering with the City of
Seattle to help research trail use on
the Burke-Gilman Trail before and after
upgrades are completed. This work is
part of a national Trail Monitoring and
Assessment Platform project, T-MAP, in
which RTC will record and analyze trail
use patterns in 12 urban areas across
the country. RTC believes this will help
better represent current traffic and
forecast future urban trail use.
The Burke-Gilman is attractive as a
study site because of its overwhelm-
ing popularity, as well as its strong
partners and management structure.
“
It’s truly a bicycle highway,” says RTC’s
Tracy Hadden Loh.“And the age and
diversity of people coming and going
on the trail are incredible. It’s clearly a
facility for everyone.”
One counter will be placed on the
University of Washington campus
where the Burke-Gilman crosses busy
15
th Street—one of the next sections
the university has targeted for improve-
ments. It’s a long-established crossing
point where daily traffic is heavy and
diverse, from cars and buses on the
road, to cyclists, runners and students
on the trail. The path is clearly marked,
and the intersection has a traffic sig-
nal, making the spot a quintessential
urban mixing zone.“That intersection
is particularly exciting because this rail-
trail is one of the oldest in the country,”
says Hadden Loh.“It will give us a really
mature picture of what urban trail use
looks like, especially when the light rail
stop opens just up the trail.”
Tracy Hadden Loh, research director
for Rails-to-Trails Conservancy (RTC),
toured several of these future project sites
last May, including the demonstration
section. “When these projects are done,
it’s going to be a next-generation trail
facility,” she says. “There’s nothing like it
anywhere in the world right now, and it
will be really impressive to see that vision
come to life. It will have a huge impact
on a huge number of people.”
Footing the Bill
With a total estimated project cost of $26
million, Kavanagh’s team has been working
to secure as much funding up front as possi-
ble to prevent long gaps in construction and
to minimize the detours and disruptions.
One of the earliest funding streams
began several years ago when UW
pledged to make campus operations
carbon neutral by 2050. Kavanagh saw
a cost-effective opportunity to help cut
down on vehicle emissions from employ-
ees and students by investing in active
transportation infrastructure—ranging
from bike-repair stations and bike lockers
to more bicycle parking on campus.
To fund these initiatives, the university
pledged 100 percent of receipts from all
parking fines around campus for the next
30
years to build more biking and walking
infrastructure. These parking tickets pro-
vide more than $800,000 annually, and
they will make up a big part of the univer-
sity’s commitment of $8 million toward
improvements to the Burke-Gilman.
Shared Values
UW is not the only institution to
embrace the Burke-Gilman as an essential
community resource. A little farther up
the trail from campus, Seattle Children’s
Hospital
(
seattlechildrens.org
)
is invest-
ing several million dollars in building
improved access and connections to the
Burke-Gilman Trail, and construction of
a neighborhood greenway. The hospital
doesn’t own or manage any of the Burke-
Gilman, but it has partnered with the city
and surrounding neighborhoods to maxi-
mize the pathway’s connectivity.
Paulo Nunes-Ueno, director of trans-
portation and sustainability for Seattle
Children’s, joined the hospital five years
ago. At the time, he saw the growth pro-
jections for Seattle Children’s, and like
Kavanagh at UW, he recognized that
investing in active transportation and
changing commuter behavior—includ-
ing getting more employees cycling into
work—were smart strategies to reduce
congestion around the hospital.
Part of the impetus for this mode-
share push came from the King County
Commute Trip Reduction (CTR) Law,
which requires major employers in the
Seattle area to reduce the number and
length of drive-alone commutes to the
worksite. But the hospital isn’t looking to
clear the lowest hurdle possible. Nunes-
Ueno, whose father was a transportation
engineer in Brazil, wanted to exceed the
CTR requirements, and he’s on a mission
to make the hospital a community mobil-
ity hub that benefits employees, patients
and residents alike.
The hospital’s Company Bike Program
provides anyone who bikes to work at
least twice a week with a free Jamis bicy-
cle, helmet, lock and basic skills classes.
The hospital also provides lockers and
Seattle Children’s
Hospital offers
incentives to employees
to bike or walk to work.
erik stuhaug/seattle children’s hospital
rails
to
trails
u
spring/summer.14
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