The Seattle Times reported Saturday that King County Executive Ron Sims and the Port of Seattle no longer agree on the future of BNSF Railway’s Eastside rail line.
The original plan would have The Port purchasing the 42-mile rail line between Renton-to-Snohomish and leasing the southern portion to King County for a hiking and biking trail, in exchange for property on Harbor Island an input on the future of Boeing Field. But with support from citizen’s groups, The Port is now researching the feasibility of running diesel passenger trains on the line, seemingly abandoning the idea of a trail altogether.
The trail would have connected several others serving the area, to create a 125-mile network of recreational trail. Certainly this story is just beginning, and we can expect more information in weeks to come.