The Burke Gilman Trail needs help. The current conditions of the crossings are forcing people to ride into traffic and causing serious injuries.
Show your support by signing our letter asking for improvements.
In March of 2024, SDOT re-striped 10 intersections of the Burke-Gilman Trail (BGT) in the Ballard and Fremont neighborhoods. However, SDOT applied the new material on top of several existing layers, leaving thick raised stripes at these intersections. Biking over these stripes at any speed is extremely jarring.
The striping is so rough that trail users regularly swerve around the striping, exiting the intended path of the trail at each intersection. Several cyclists have crashed and been injured trying to avoid the stripes, and we expect injuries will continue until the surface is fixed.
Since April of 2024, members of Ballard-Fremont Greenways have raised the issue to the Mayor, Deputy Mayor, City Councilmembers, SDOT’s Director, Chief of Safety, and Head of Markings, only to be met with vague responses that the trail is “within standards” and unclear timelines for addressing our concerns.
Thousands of people ride the BGT every day, commuting to work, shopping at local businesses, and visiting other neighborhoods. They shouldn’t have to choose between dangerous maneuvers and worrying whether the striping will give them a concussion.
We demand short-term remediation through grinding and restriping each crossing while we work with SDOT and City Council to make the trail safe for all users in the long term through changes in design and increased funding.
At Every Intersection:
Striping Height
Layers upon layers create a rough surface.
Dangerous Railroad Tracks
People are forced next to RR Tracks.
Swerving Outside
Users are pushed into the traffic right-of-way.
Extremely Long Sections
These sections can be 100 feet long.
Layers upon layers create a rough surface.
People are forced next to RR Tracks.
Users are pushed into the traffic right-of-way.
These sections can be 100 feet long.
Alex’s Story:
I am a daily user of the Burke Gilman trail; I have biked as my primary form of commuting for over five years, and feel lucky to live in a community like Seattle (and, specifically, Ballard) that has such easy access to bike infrastructure like the BGT. While commuting on the BGT has its challenges, the re-stripping of the crosswalks in April 2024 added to this burden, forcing me to choose biking directly over the strips (which causes such violent shaking I am at times concerned I may lose my grip on my handlebars) and biking around the strips, into traffic.
Following a particularly raining evening in May 2024, I biked around the crosswalk striping at NW 39th St and misjudged my entrance back into the trail across a lip hidden by standing water. This caused me to fall off my bike and onto the trail while moving ~15 MPH. While I was lucky to avoid serious injury, I was left with an uncomfortable road rash (made worse by asphalt debris from the nearby plant), and still have scars from the fall. That same day I biked home, but have been nervous commuting on that section ever since (and now, always endure the ten rumble strip sections, twice a day).
While this incident did not deter me from continuing to use the trail, I am concerned that small maintenance issues such as this will prevent the broader community from embracing the recreational benefits (and practicality) of cycling as a primary form of transportation.
Tim’s Story
In March of 2025, we purchased a cargo bike, a Tern GSD, to take our 3 year old to daycare. The ride with them from Loyal Heights to Fremont was supposed to be an enjoyable family ride downhill on nice neighborhood greenways to meet up with the even better Burke Gilman Trail. However, it turned out to be ride of pain, frustration, and anxiety, all because of a swell in paint. The section of Burke Gilman in Ballard and Fremont we ride on contains paint striping that isn't flush with the road. This creates exessive repeated bumps up and down, causing issues for me and my precious passenger.
The first month was a constant barrage of “daddy stop this hurts” during the rides and pleas before the ride to take the bus. It was heartbreaking. I hated hearing my child in pain. My child's displeasure at riding along in the bike with me did not match with my personal experience as a child riding with my parents, I loved it. Riding on my parent's bike to the park are some of the earliest and most cherished childhood memories I have. So, I tried to adapt by slowing down or avoiding the stripes causing the bumps. That wasn't always possible due to conditions around me, be they other trail users, motor vehicles, or obstacles like water and debris.
I talked with other parents making the same trip and found it was a common complaint of their children as well. And the consensus I found was either to add cushioning, shock absorption, or ignore the issue. We made the decision that we needed to provide more cushioning than the thin foam the Thule childbike seat provided. So we accepted the risk of decreasing the seat's safety in a crash, due to strap fitting non ideally against the manufacturers instructions with the added material, to increase our child's comfort. A decision we reversed in October when I broke my rib after falling on the way to pick up my kid with the bike due to wet streets and leaves on a hill.
Adding an unsafe cushion should not have been a decision we had to make. The trail should be maintained for a safe and smooth ride for all users. While there should always be room for trialing and testing new methods, and I applaud the city for being a leader in this space, this striping is unacceptable for resident's needs.