Like a bridge over friendly waters

Bike lane, looking east,
with rest stop

Walking across the lake is kind of a kick, even if you have to use a bridge to do it.

A couple of years ago, I wrote about the near-completion of the new State Route 520 bridge across Lake Washington, a bridge replacing the prior floating bridge constructed over a half century earlier.  Much of the bridge hadn't yet been opened to traffic -- the new and the old bridges ran side, with traffic moving from one to the other at one point.  Nevertheless, the Department of Transportation had thrown a gala celebration of the bridge's near-completion, and invited the public to walk across.

Which we did, in large numbers. 

The new bridge has been fully functional for some time, now -- and the old bridge removed -- but the bike lane opened only recently.  Today was our warmest day of the year so far, and I decided that now was the time to give it a  try -- not by bicycle, but by foot.  I'm pleased to report that the walk is scenic and fun.

On the west end of the bridge, the lane begins at 24th Avenue N.E., a few yards from the site once occupied by the Museum of History and Industry (MOHAI) -- torn down to make way for the widening of SR 520 but with the museum relocated in splendid facilities at the southern end of Lake Union.  The bike lane -- separated from vehicular traffic, and as wide as a traffic lane -- continues alongside the length of lengthy Foster Island (I never realized how long and narrow the island was when hiking it), and then into open waters and across Lake Washington.  I'm not sure where the bike lane qua bike lane actually ends on the east side, but I stopped at a nicely landscaped lid over the SR520 freeway, just west of the cameras that scan your car for toll collection purposes.

Mt. Rainier and Lake Washington
from bridge

The bike lane has a number of rest stops with benches and informative displays describing the history and geology of the area, as well as the engineering of the new bridge.  I would say that three-fourths, at least, of the bike lane users were actually riding bikes -- often quite fast.  Hikers like me were a minority, even when you include runners.  But there's plenty of room for all.

From start to the landscaped lid was about 2.6 miles, according to my phone's pedometer.  That made it a 5.2 round trip, with another 1.6 miles getting to the trail from my house and back again.  If you do the hike from west to east, as I did, I'm happy to let you in on a secret -- if you're exhausted after reaching your eastside destination, there's an elevator from the landscaped lid down to transit lanes on SR520, where you can quickly catch a bus back to Seattle.

But not for me.  Not today.  Sun was bright, the air was warm, and the walking was good.