The Seattle Department of Transportation announced today that it will comply with a recent court ruling to assess the environmental impacts of completing the "Missing Link" section of the Burke Gilman Trail, which stretches from 11th Avenue NW to the Ballard Locks.

The environmental assessment is estimated to take six months to complete. SDOT previously reviewed the environmental impact of an alignment along Ballard Avenue NW, however, the court ruled that the department also needed to study the future alignment from 17th Avenue NW to NW Vernon Place.

Currently, there's no time line for constructing the $14 million Missing Link trail segment.

Once constructed, the Burke Gilman Trail will run unobstructed through Seattle, to Issaquah via the Sammamish River Trail and the East Lake Sammamish Trail. It's the city’s top trail priority as identified by the Bicycle Master Plan, and supports the plan’s goals of tripling the amount of cycling and reducing the rate of bicycle collisions by a third.