New 520 Bike and Pedestrian Bridge Improves Arboretum Accessibility

Pedestrians and cyclists crossing the new 520 bridge trail by the Montlake Lid.

Despite high winds and rain, hundreds of cyclists and pedestrians turned out for WSDOT’s “Bike the Bridge” event at the Montlake Lid on Saturday, December 14. The event celebrated the grand opening of a new bike and pedestrian bridge over State Route 520.

After some brief remarks—including by State Secretary of Transportation Roger Millar—a ribbon was cut, and the large crowd poured over the new bridge, which links East Montlake Park on the north side of the freeway to E. Lake Washington Boulevard on the south side.

This is no ordinary overpass, but rather an engineering marvel! Though its paved path is 14 feet wide, the bridge itself is more than 70 feet wide and features five-foot-high soil berms planted with native grasses, lupines, asters, and more—15,000 plants in all. The berms help mute the sound of freeway traffic passing underneath. Viewing areas at each end of the bridge deck offer beautiful vistas of Union Bay and the Arboretum wetlands.

Marsh Island in the Arboretum viewed from the north side of the new bridge deck.

Arboretum representatives were on hand for the inaugural bike/walk to serve complimentary hot drinks and cookies, and to talk to members of the public about how the new bridge will improve accessibility to and from the Arboretum and enhance our community connections.

In the not-too-distant future—when the 28-acre WSDOT Peninsula is returned to the Seattle Parks—the bridge will be linked directly to the Arboretum Loop Trail, creating a seamless multi-use corridor from the Arboretum and Japanese Garden north to Union Bay.

For now, the south ramp of the new bridge ends at a light-enhanced pedestrian crossing over Lake Washington Boulevard. New signage will direct users from here on a short, four-block walk/cycle through the Montlake neighborhood to the Lynn Street/Willcox Bridge entrance of the Arboretum.

“This is an exciting milestone,” says Arboretum Foundation Interim Director Elizabeth Lunney. “Improving accessibility to the Arboretum’s plant collections, natural areas, and programs is a major priority for us, and the new bridge—and Montlake Lid transit hub—will help us better connect to the City and bring more people face to face with the wonders of nature.”