Two long-planned projects involving neighboring Highline cities may conflict with each other along a 1.45-mile stretch of Des Moines Memorial Drive South on the Burien-SeaTac border.
Trees along the drive from South Park to Des Moines have long served as a memorial to the soldiers from Washington state who were killed in World War I. Through the years, due to urbanization and disease, many of the original trees have died or been removed. But plans are underway to renovate the drive by replanting elm trees.
Also in the planning stages is a Lake to Sound Trail. The trail is a proposed 16-mile-long biking and walking trail that would link the shoreline of Lake Washington at Gene Coulon Park in Renton to the shoreline of Puget Sound at Beach Park in Des Moines, while passing through the cities of Tukwila, SeaTac and Burien.
The trail would also connect to four regional trails: The Des Moines Creek and Westside trails, plus King County’s Green River and Cedar River regional trails.
Part of the trail would be along Des Moines Memorial Drive from South 156th Street in SeaTac to South Normandy Road in Burien.
At the Feb. 28 Burien Council meeting, Councilwoman Rose Clark, a member of the memorial advisory committee, said she was “heartbroken” to discover there might not be enough room for both the trail and new elm trees along that short stretch.
She said she had met in her home with trail planners earlier in the day before the council meeting.
“I’m afraid I was not very gracious,” Clark said in a latter Times/News interview. “I was really upset.”
Jason Rich, who is managing the trail project for King County, said final decisions on the trail have not been made yet.
He expressed optimism that differences between trail planners and community members can be worked out.
“This is not a large impasse,” Rich said.
He added, “ We are at the 30-percent design phase. This is the point when we take it out and start vetting it and looking at the specifics.”
Part of the vetting process will be a public open house, March 16, 5-7 p.m., at the Burien Community Center, 14700 6th Ave. S.W.
The specific topic of discussion during the open house will be the 1.45-mile-long stretch. Participants will also be able to learn about the project, review early design concepts and meet the project team.
More information about the meeting and the proposed trail is available by contacting Rich at King County Department of Natural Resources and Parks, 206-263-7314, or jason.rich@kingcounty.gov.
Clark said she has shown trail planners an alternative bike path from South 168th Street to South 188th Street on private land west of State Route 509.
“They said it was hilly and that bikers like straight roads and flat surfaces,” Clark reported.
Clark said planners had made an earlier presentation to the council.
“But we are now getting down to the nitty-gritty,” Clark said. “There is a difference between hearing the overall plan versus specifics that might severely impact the community.”
Rich said planners had not been far enough along on the design process to give details during the council presentations.
In order to receive state historic preservation status, new elm trees must be planted to replace the original elms, according to Clark.
The entire route will not be replanted. In the previously unincorporated area north of South 128th Street, county workers installed a line of red bricks with gold stars encased in plaques at spots where the trees were originally planted.
But Clark said memorial proponents want to have as many elm trees replanted as possible.