Since the Sammamish Landing opened in the fall of 2011, community members and city officials have noticed sizable parking concerns along the East Lake Sammamish Parkway. Trail and lake users squeeze their vehicles onto the side of the road, creating issues for pedestrians, other drivers and bicyclists.

In December 2013, the Sammamish City Council directed staff to work with the city of Redmond on 187th Street parking and take another look at maximizing parking along the Eastlake Sammamish Parkway.

Since then, city officials have spoken with Redmond officials and discovered that on-street parking is not one of Redmond’s top priorities as far as future projects. In fact, Redmond would like to see more bike lanes. Sammamish said that since Redmond is unwilling to participate in the widening of the roadway, the project would be extremely expensive.

Sammamish hopes to design a parking lot, pedestrian crossing and ADA ramp across the street from the Sammamish Landing to assist with parking concerns. As of now, the lot would accommodate approximately 35 cars and have accessible restrooms, a ramp and stairs leading down to the Landing.

Council member Kathy Huckabay noted the parking lot that already exists for trail and landing use is on the lake side of the street and is never full.

“The trail access is there already, so we will see what we can do to add more parking,” City Manager Ben Yazici said.

Sammamish council members made it clear that their biggest concern is safety. Council member Bob Keller asked how Landing users would get from the parking lot to the other side of the street.

“This issue was not on the table until we realized what a safety issue it is,” he said. “I hope we’re looking at all the options that are available there.”

Yazici said that the current scope has been design, but city engineers can take a look at safety and come back to the council with suggestions. City officials will come back to the council as soon as possible, sharing a design for the parking lot, cost estimates, and requesting permission to begin construction.

Kelly Montgomery: 425-391-0363; kmontgomery@issaquahreporter.com