The South Lake Loop is a popular route for recreational riders but it is also used by a lot of commuters. I used to use it every day when I worked at Boeing Renton. A few years ago, they built bike lanes on Logan Avenue and then some protected bike lanes along the South Boeing Parking lots and Renton Stadium. They have been planning to extend that trail around the end of the airport for years and construction is finally started. I have been talking to the Renton project manager for some better designs and more info, and will update my pics when he sends it to me. But here is what is found on the Renton website even though it isn’t really readable.
The first thing that interests me is the Cedar River bridge connection. I was thinking that they were going to have to build another bridge just for peds and bikes because the lane is way too narrow. Now it looks like the road is wide enough that they are going to be able to fit it into the road. This will be awesome. I have ridden along here many times when the Renton High School track team or football team are all walking or running towards the stadium across the bridge which basically closes it off for a few minutes. It is impossible to even pass another bike on here without both riders getting off their bikes.
Update: There will be a 12 feet wide 2 way bike lane on the bridge.
Most cyclists then get on Perimeter Road and follow it around the entire South and West part of the airport. It is 25 mph but doesn’t have much traffic because there isn’t any parking on the South or West part of the airport. The Boeing field mechanics park in the East parking lots and take shuttles to get to the West side airplane stalls. It has a weird brick pedestrian semi-circle at Shattuck and I don’t think they are going to use that for bikes. They are going to end up taking out one of the 3 Westbound lanes of Airport Road and putting in 2 way bike lanes.
One of the weird things about this end of the airport is the possibility of jet blasts pushing people off bikes. If you ride on Perimeter road you need to know to wait when a 737 is sitting there ready to take off. This has never happened to me. I used to ride by here a lot and I never had to wait for a plane. There is a blast fence and a warning sign so I’m not sure how much of a problem you would have biking behind a 737 Max engine. People are already very comfortable riding this non-busy perimeter road and I think they may continue doing it instead of getting on the new bike lanes along side a very busy road…
I am anxious to see the details of the connection to Rainier Ave. There is a slip lane for cars going West on Airport and then turning North to Rainier Ave. It looks like it might get closed which would be great. That slip lane is very dangerous for bikes coming North on Rainier from downtown Renton. There aren’t any bike lanes yet on this section of Rainier, they don’t start until just North of the airport. A barely used sidewalk could be an option until the next phase of this project happens. I believe they are going to build bike lanes along Rainier eventually but I haven’t been able to confirm that yet. UPDATE: The slip lane IS being removed. See dwg below with the bike lanes replacing the car slip lane It looks like the bikes will be expected to ride on the shoulder of Rainier or the sidewalk going North. The Rainier Bike (Phase 4) is scheduled for next summer (2022) but that won’t take the bike lanes all the way to the Renton city line. That will take Phase 5 which isn’t funded yet.
This project has been delayed for many years and it is great to see that it is finally happening. It is one of the many missing links in the loop around the lake. Unfortunatel,y I am concerned that we aren’t going to use it because we will prefer to stay on perimeter road. There are so many holes in our network, it is tough to see money going to a section that has a usuable option. But… maybe riding behind a jet engine isn’t a great idea…