Closing the Eastrail gap – 2024 RAISE application

Project overview

King County  has been awarded a $25 million 2024 Federal RAISE grant to close the final gap of the southern segment of the Eastrail, the I-90 trail segment. When complete the I-90 trail segment will provide safe travel between transit, jobs, and recreation in the fast-growing, regional economic centers of Renton, Bellevue, and beyond.

The project reconnects communities north and south of the I-90 highway by:

• Retrofitting the existing steel bridge spanning sixteen lanes of traffic
• Building 1.7 miles of new paved trail
• Creating a safe connection to the 20-mile Mountains to Sound Greenway trail.

Closing the Eastrail gap provides access to 16 miles of non-motorized trails north through Bellevue, and 5 miles south to Renton and completes a critical link in Puget Sound's regional trail network.

The Eastrail is a partnership success story. Jurisdictions, non-profits, corporations, a regional transit agency, and a private utility within King County are working together to support corridor development, including the investment of $265M over the last 15 years to acquire the corridor and construct existing trail segments. The estimated cost to close the Eastrail gap is $49M (2029 dollars).

Questions? Please contact Shannon Arms, King County Project Manager.

Application materials

• Application package 
• Letters of support
• Factsheet