After the success of the initial stretch of the Burke-Gilman Trail along Lake Washington, walkers, joggers, and bikers pressed for a western extension. Burlington Northern had just sold property that included several vacated stretches of rail, and the city had been planning to buy these. While the Montana-based purchasers said they would not block the trail, not everyone was convinced.

About 70 members of the Lake Union and Ship Canal Trail Coalition gathered to protest the sale. Here, some of them stand with their signs at 999 Third Avenue in downtown Seattle, some 45 floors below the Burlington Northern corporate offices. To the right, standing together, are trail users Allen Prier and George Lindberg. Lindberg, 85, said he rode his bike on the trail most days.

Caption information source: “Burke-Gilman Trail right of way sale is off track, protesters say”, by Scott Maier, Seattle Post-Intelligencer, March 4, 1988.
Caption information source: From verso of photograph.