Lake Union's North Shore: Waterways and Street Ends

 Dear Diary,

I began today what I intended as a really long hike, but convinced myself I had some free time today to backtrack and visit a bunch of parks not Parks' (that is, not owned or managed by Seattle's Department of Parks and Recreation).  I didn't have that time, as it turns out; that and other things are forcing me to reconsider the whole idea of this (and perhaps another) long hike, given the weather we can soon expect for months. But meanwhile I do have all these pictures of obscure places, and might as well show them to you.

Cheshiahud Loop

Most of these places were brought to public attention at least partly by the efforts that went into the creation, early in this century, of a trail called "Cheshiahud Lake Union Loop" at the departmental website, but just Cheshiahud Loop on its profuse but relatively inconspicuous signs.

(Cheshiahud was a Duwamish Indian; without serious research I'm unequipped to say more.)  At some point I should figure out where this loop actually goes in North Seattle, go there, and tell you, dear Diary, all about it, but today I'm just giving credit where it's due.  I don't owe these folks just for the research that brought these sites to light, but also for a map (PDF) that allowed me to plan the hike, and for signs, similar to the above, that physically confirm many of the locations.

Weird Law:  Waterways and Street Ends

Most of these sites, and all the photos, exist thanks to two legal quirks.

Back When - this is the older quirk - people who lived around the lake often travelled by boat.  Waterways were places to launch or land them.  At some point the state took ownership, but then, as the waterways lost importance, forgot about them.  Now regulations require that in leasing them out, the state prioritise public access.  The nine on the north shore (other shores have fourteen more) vary greatly both in public access and in public amenities.  A good introduction, focused on the six in Wallingford, and especially the least accessible, Waterway 20, is a September 2020 article by Mandy Godwin for Crosscut.  All 23 are shown on the Cheshiahud Loop map.

The newer quirk is a decision by a Seattle City Council of the good old days when they didn't have tons of crazy ideas.  (Accounts I've read disagree about which council, but it was more than fifteen years ago.)  This decision was, seems to me, a land grab.  The new law declared that the land between the end of a public street and the water would be public land.  The city then set to work identifying sites and negotiating with people who were using them.  Some of these people agreed to pay fees to go on using these spaces.  These fees support a small staff who have slowly added amenities to the rest, and who have produced a kind of hard to use and at least somewhat misleading GIS interactive map of the rest.  Eli Sanders of The Stranger wrote half an article in 2015 about them, which I forgot at the time, but re-found when investigating all those places in Ballard called "street end".  (If my link for the map doesn't work for you, use his, which takes you to Seattle's Department of Transportation, these street ends' owner and the source for map links.)  Only two of these are on Lake Union's north shore.  The state is apparently also in the street end game, but I know, so far, much less about that.

None of the street ends in North Seattle is said to have restrooms or water fountains, so I've been meaning to get to them, just not right now.  None of the waterways have public-facing plumbing either, but I was figuring this would be my last hike past Lake Union for you, dear Diary, and I should get them done.  I took lots of photos because all the descriptions I found were words.

The Parks (etc.)

Waterway 15

At the end of 4th Ave NE.

This is perhaps tied with Waterway 18 for "best north shore waterway park".  Credit usually goes to neighbour Ivar's, but a Cheshiahud planners' report (long PDF; see page 89) says the work was done by (or paid for by?) King County Metro.  Anyway, whereas 18 is pure park, 15 is gussied up for us city folks; not only does it have picnic tables and what sure looks like a fire circle:

but the rocks separating the circles have historical documents

and photos

baked into them.  And of course, like most of these, it has a view:

Latona Avenue NE Street End

This didn't really stick well in my memory, but does provide direct access to the water too:

Waterway 16

At the end of 2nd Ave NE.

I hope that crane, though unoccupied around 3:30 P.M., represents a brighter future for this one.

Don't be misled by these current and former plants; I very much doubt there's some safe sea strand on the other side of the rocks.

Waterway 17

At the end of Eastern Ave N.  If you're on the Burke-Gilman Trail, you'll see a stairway continuing Eastern; look across Northlake Way from it.  If you're on foot on Northlake, you might see the thin blue sign. But if you're driving on Northlake, turn south into the parking lot of a building whose signage says "Westward", the name of the ground floor restaurant.  The waterway can only be reached through the "No Parking" space in that lot.

It's a quite nice micro-park:

with, of course, a view:

Sunnyside Avenue N Boat Ramp

Apparently this is a street end turned into a Real Park. Which means it isn't listed on that interactive GIS thingie.  (EDIT 10/19 - Yes, it is listed there.)

Introduced, with a photo, June 9 in "At the Centre of the Universe, Does Gas Work?"

Waterway 18

Mentioned in the abovementioned page but properly introduced, with photos, June 21 in "Past Work and Gas Works".

A park apparently belonging to Gas Works Park Marina

This is a small area with grass, trees and picnic tables, just east of Waterway 19.  It's certainly privately owned, but I'm not sure to what extent the public is welcome (as opposed to residents of the marina's houseboats), so I took no photos.

Waterway 19

Just east of Gas Works Park.

Introduced in the same manner as Waterway 18 and in the same pages.

Godwin says this is closed due to toxic waste.  Maybe she means closed to boating? It's just as open to hiking as it was in June.

Gas Works Park

Introduced in the same pages as Waterways 18 and 19, with photos in the June 21 page.

Waterway 20

Not just west of Gas Works Park.  I'm not sure how big it is, but it has to be between the Seattle Police Harbor Patrol building and the Center for Wooden Boats building.  This area, adjacent to the latter, most closely fit the description in Godwin's article:

Anyway, that's south of Gas Works's western tip.

Waterway 21

This has a Cheshiahud Loop-style sign, and is reputed to line up with a street called Carr Place, but the most reliable way to find it in the short term is that it's west of a gray building home to the Northlake Shipyard, and east of a blue and white building home to the Divers' Institute of Technology.

It's a nice one, a deck with two benches to take in the view, greenery on either side:

Waterway 22

This is just east of Stone Way.  It's also easy to find because, coming from the east, for some distance, there's good sidewalk, that abruptly ends where this waterway begins.

On the other hand, its view makes it worth seeking out:

Waterway 23

You've actually seen this one before, if you've used the part of the Burke-Gilman Trail that's directly under the Aurora Bridge.  It's got a very good view of its own:

which unfortunately isn't what you see from the benches:

on which, however, I found an indifferent cat:

Fremont Bridge Street End

This is the only street end on that GIS thing that has its address in "N" rather than "NE" or "NW".  (EDIT 10/19 - That depends.  The GIS thing claims Sunnyside Ave is "NE". So its address there isn't "N", but in other contexts, such as reality, it is, which makes two "N" street ends.)  I think a "street end" for a bridge is obvious nonsense, and what we're told of it - that, as with Waterway 23, it's incorporated into the Burke-Gilman Trail - is just as implausible.  Tell me, is this part of the trail?

Or this?

I'm pretty sure the idea is that people who actually believe in a street end for a bridge and demand to see it should see this:

but I don't buy it.

Sorry to end on such a grumpy note, dear Diary, when there was some fun along the way.