Court of Appeals Hands Seattle Another Burke-Gilman Missing Link Setback
The never-ending quest to bridge the Burke-Gilman Trail across Shilshole Avenue through Ballard hit another road block Monday, with the Washington Court of Appeals ruling against the City of Seattle on the question of whether construction can proceed. The decision closes off a "fast" track that the Seattle Department of Transportation (SDOT) had been pursuing... for the last five years.
The ruling marks just the latest legal setback for the beleaguered project to close a 1.4-mile gap in a trail corridor stretching from Bothell to Golden Gardens.
Since 2008, a coalition of business owners, including Salmon Bay Sand & Gravel, the Ballard Terminal Railroad, and CSR Marine, have been fighting plans for a trail along the south side of Shilshole Avenue. The group, which now refers to itself as the Ballard Coalition, have argued that a formal trail would bring conflicts with freight vehicles and impede the viability of their businesses.
The tool business groups have been using to stop construction is the State Environmental Policy Act (SEPA). They've won previous legal fights to get the City to both complete a lengthy environmental analysis in 2017 and then to update it with an even lengthier economic analysis in 2019.
https://www.theurbanist.org/court-of-appeals-hands-seattle-another-burke-gilman-missing-link-setback/