Seattle Area to Get Three New Pedestrian Bridges

The Urbanist’s Ryan Packer describes a series of new pedestrian bridges that will connect more parts of Seattle’s Eastside and provide better access to local light rail stations. According to Packer, “all three bridges are connecting areas that have long been divided by car infrastructure, not natural barriers, and all have been in the works for well over a decade.”

The bridges—the Totem Lake Connector, the Overlake Village Pedestrian Bridge, and Redmond Technology Center Bridge—will open between this summer and next year. The Totem Lake Connector, which will open this July in Kirkland, “will fill in the final gap on the city’s backbone of a regional multi-use trail, the Cross Kirkland Corridor.” The Redmond bridge, a fully covered span over SR 520, is funded by Microsoft (whose split campus will be connected by the bridge) and owned by the city.

Packer expresses optimism that these bridges will create “invaluable” connections to Kirkland and Redmond’s off-street bike and pedestrian trail networks and raise demand for more bike infrastructure.