Our Projects: I-5 Open Space Mountain Bike Trails
The idea of mountain bike trails under Interstate 5 in Seattle was first proposed by John Zilly in his book, Kissing the Trail. Later, the Eastlake Community Council proposed it to the community and to the Seattle Department of Parks and Recreation as part of the Pro-Parks Levy I-5 Open Space Park. Simon Lawton of Fluid Ride, a local downhill coaching business, drew up a course that got the mountain bike community excited. Then Backcountry Bicycle Trails Club (BBTC) and Urban Sparks started working to make it happen.
Urban Sparks assembled the I-5 Trails coalition, a who's who of Seattle cycling, to show solidarity in the cycling community. Then we lobbied in earnest to show that the community could build these trails. Our letters of support below show the success that we're quite proud of. Urban Sparks is working on new projects and BBTC is now exclusively responsible for raising funds and building the trails in the I-5 Colonnade Park.
The I-5 Colonnade will be the first of it's kind - an outdoor covered technical terrain park for skill building.
While figuring out how to artfully squeeze 2 miles of interesting trails and bike toys into the nooks and crannies of this park, we built a Faux Rock that can be ridden from multiple directions. Features like this will help us pack a lot of fun into a relatively small urban park.
We also hope to put compact features like this in local parks throughout the city so each neighborhood has a place to meet and play on their bicycles. See Bicycle Skills Parks.
Letters of support for I-5 Open Space:
- I-5 Trails coalition, the folks behind the project
- Heidi Wills, City Council support
- Michael Shiosaki, the City's stated commitment
- Urban Sparks' and BBTC's letter of commitment
- International Mountain Bike Association - IMBA
To help build this park, contact The Backcountry Bicycle Trail Club. They will build and maintain the park.