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Roads helps open East Lake Sammamish Trail
 After
five years of detailed review and hard work, King County officially
opened the 11-mile East Lake Sammamish Trail last week.
The new trail links the cities of Issaquah, Sammamish and Redmond, and
ties in to King County's vast public access system for cyclists, walkers
and runners. It was a project spearheaded by the county’s Department of
Natural Resources and Parks, but the Road Services Division played a key
role in getting the trail ready for the public.
The Roads Division assisted by: managing the federal grant funds for the
project; overseeing the work of several contractors; and inspecting the
completed work.
The interim trail features split rail fencing, signage, litter stations,
pet waste bags and temporary restrooms. The trail surface is constructed
of compacted gravel atop the existing rail bed and is not appropriate
for thin-tire road bikes or inline skates. The final paved trail will be
constructed after the Metropolitan King County Council adopts a master
plan and all relevant permits obtained. The master plan is expected to
be submitted to the county council in 2006.
County pledges to increase biodiesel use
 Last
week, King County Executive Ron Sims
announced an ambitious goal of increasing the county's use of
biodiesel from the current 5 percent mixture to a 20 percent mixture -
an increase that is intended to cut pollution, reduce our dependence on
foreign oil and encourage growth in the domestic clean-fuel industry.
The King County Department of Transportation has been in the forefront
in the use of biodiesel in this region. In 2004,
Metro Transit began using a
biodiesel blend to fuel buses at two of its bases. More recently, the
Fleet Administration
Division, which oversees the county's general service vehicles and
equipment, began using biodiesel in its on-site diesel fueling system.
To make the new goal official, Sims signed an executive order committing
the county to the increased biodiesel mix, which will result in an
annual use of 2.5 million gallons of biofuels in county vehicles. This
will make King County the state’s largest purchaser of the
environmentally friendly fuel.
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