The county to the south is extending its reach into Snohomish County.
King County, which is building the controversial Brightwater sewage treatment plant in Maltby, has worked out a proposed trade with the Port of Seattle that would allow it to build a trail to Snohomish County as well.
If the deal announced Wednesday goes through, King County would convert a 47-mile Burlington Northern Santa Fe Railway line from Snohomish to Renton into a trail linking the King County trail system to Snohomish County’s Centennial Trail.
“It will make this the best urban trail system in the nation,” said Kurt Triplett, chief of staff for King County Executive Ron Sims.
King County has proposed trading Boeing Field, the airport it operates south of Seattle, to the Port of Seattle in exchange for the more than $100 million needed to buy the rail corridor.
The deal includes money to actually develop the trail along the King County portions of the rail route, but there is no money for the 14-mile segment of track in Snohomish County.
“We’re going to need the help of Snohomish County elected officials to find a way to fund that trail development,” Triplett said. “We haven’t talked to them recently. Now that we’ve announced it, we’re going to start those conversations again.”
Snohomish County wants more information before it can say much about the King County proposal, said Donna Ambrose, a spokeswoman for County Executive Aaron Reardon.
Still, extending the Centennial Trail south to the King County line is something Snohomish County wants to do, said Marc Krandel, county parks planning supervisor.
“Regionally, there’s a huge demand for it,” he said.
The Centennial Trail is immensely popular, especially since opening a segment from Lake Stevens to Arlington in 2005, Krandel said.
“We’re at about 350,000 users per year,” he said.
Reporter Lukas Velush: 425-339-3449 or lvelush@heraldnet.com.
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