Garry Kampen

This year is the 20th anniversary of Newcastle, a small city that ranks high in livability, and the 15th anniversary of Newcastle Trails, a nonprofit citizens group that has worked for parks, trails and open space, in close cooperation with the city, since 1999.

I’m writing to celebrate Newcastle’s amazing and still-growing trail system, and to encourage you to explore it and enjoy it. Check NT’s website, www.newcastletrails.org; download our latest map and trail guide; join NT by emailing info@newcastletrails.org (for trail news, no dues); attend our Oct. 6 board meeting (7 p.m. at Regency Newcastle); and consider volunteering for the board, or lending a hand with trail work, computer work (GIS, web, writing), lobbying, fundraising — whatever you’d like to do.

Newcastle’s trails are part of a regional network used by walkers, joggers, cyclists and equestrians. The city lies within a Grand Loop, a triangle of trail corridors with its base on the existing Lake Washington Trail (future Eastside Rail Trail) and its apex in Cougar Mountain.

The sides of the triangle are the May Creek Greenway (mostly in Newcastle) and the Coal Creek section of the Mountains to Sound Greenway (mostly in Bellevue). The triangle is crossed north-to-south by Coal Creek Parkway (continuous sidewalks) and the heavily used Waterline Trail (few sidewalks, many trees), with downtown Newcastle and Lake Boren Park sandwiched between.

You can walk the loop and its cross-trails now, with two exceptions: Renton’s May Creek Trail (partly complete, bridge needed), and the parkway underpass for the Coal Creek Trail (due soon). The Grand Loop is mostly wooded nature trails: The May Creek and Coal Creek trails include creeks, waterfalls, bridges, historic sites and sections of an old railroad; the Terrace Trail has switchbacks, lovely rock steps, views, fallen trees and giant moss-covered boulders. The Marshall’s Hill and Red Town trails (in Cougar Mountain Wilderness Park) link wilderness trails with the remains of Old Newcastle and its coal mines.

The west-to-east CrossTown Trail is Newcastle’s major urban trail (nature trails and sidewalks), a central connector linking schools, parks, neighborhoods and north-south trails. It starts near 116th Avenue Southeast and Newcastle Way, and winds past or through Hazelwood Elementary School, Hazelwood Park, Donegal Park, the historic Newcastle Cemetery and Lake Boren Park, continuing on sidewalks to Beit Tikvah and, after a gap, southeast along the DeLeo Wall (woods, views) from Newcastle Vista to Cougar Mountain.

Fall projects include new trail signs citywide, and changes to the CrossTown Trail: rerouting it at the new middle school and the planned Renton School District Newcastle development (between Olympus and Hazelwood), and rebuilding sections of trail between Newcastle Vista and Cougar Mountain.

Newcastle’s trail system has benefited from the cooperation of many groups, including Renton, Bellevue, King County and the Issaquah Alps Trails Club (check their websites for trail maps and guided walks). Volunteers were also essential. Much of the trail work was done by Boy Scouts, and parents, from Newcastle’s Hazelwood Troop, and other troops from Bellevue, Kirkland and Renton.

In an approximately 20-minute address, Buri talked about his love of Newcastle’s sense of community, and he updated citizens about improvements to Lake Boren Park, development of the Mutual Materials site and a potential new project to expand the May Creek Trail.

Buri, who assumed the mayor’s role in January, introduced himself before discussing city matters. He moved to Newcastle in 1998, he said, where he and his wife quickly fell in love with the city.

“Part of what I love about the city of Newcastle, which was alluded to earlier, is the sense of community, and part of that comes from the fact that it’s really a small town,” he said. “I don’t go to the store or any of the businesses without seeing someone I know.”

Buri then delved head first into talk about plans for improvements to Lake Boren Park. The park, which he described as the “crown jewel of Newcastle,” is a priority for the city, he said.

Residents got a first look at an initial vision for the park at the town hall meeting in October. Suggested upgrades included a larger, covered stage, a kid’s spray zone, widening and improving the beach area, shoreline boardwalks and the creation of a central meadow.

During the October meeting, the city used polling devices to get feedback on the project, and 77 percent of respondents said they agreed that improvements to Lake Boren Park would benefit the community.

The City Council recently authorized city staff to explore the purchase of properties at the south end of the lake that would help alleviate flooding concerns near lakeshore properties and essentially expand Lake Boren Park.

“We’re really at the beginning stages of getting your input on what you’d like to see happen there,” Buri said. “Whatever we do will involve a lot of public input.”

Buri also talked about a potential project to expand the May Creek Trail, including the installation of a suspension bridge.

One of the most exciting aspects of the project, City Manager Rob Wyman noted, was that the extension would allow Newcastle residents to walk directly to Seahawks practice at the Virginia Mason Athletic Center.

“Really, it would be an amazing enhancement, with a pedestrian bridge over a beautiful stretch of May Creek,” Buri said.

The project would include the bridge, trail extensions and a trailhead parking lot along Southeast May Creek Park Drive.

The city has submitted a state capital budget request through the office of state Rep. Tana Senn to fund the project.

“We’re pursuing it down in Olympia, and I think the prospects are good without promising it,” Buri said of the city’s chances to receive the funding.

It could be a particularly attractive project to state leaders, Buri said, because it would serve as a key link in the Mountains to Sound Greenway connection.

The Mountains to Sound Greenway is a connected landscape of natural lands and communities along Interstate 90 between Seattle and Central Washington. It features a regional trail network used by pedestrians and bicyclists.

If the city gets the $1.4 million it’s asking for from the state, it will obviously move forward with the project, Buri said. If it doesn’t, the project is something the city would still like to pursue in the future, when funding is available.