With more than 29 miles of land waiting to be turned into a new Eastside trails backbone, the city and county is getting ready to hear public input on their plans for the old Burlington Northern train tracks, running from Renton all the way to Woodinville.

Only about two miles of the new trail would be located in Renton, but from there, walkers, hikers and bikers would be able to get all the way to Woodinville, about 22 miles, as well as access a 7-mile spur from Woodinville to Redmond.

As proposed, the trail would form a “backbone” of a larger system and link to several other trails in the region, including the Burke-Gilman Trail, the Interurban Trail and the Cedar River Trail, among others.

The section of possible trail in Renton begins just north of Gene Coulon Memorial Park (the tracks that run along the park are still used by Boeing to deliver 737 fuselages to the Renton plant) and run north past the Virginia Mason Athletic Center.

The county acquired the land from the Port of Seattle in 2012 as part of the Rails to Trails program and things began to get serious in March 2014 when work began on a master plan for the entire system.

This past week, representatives from all of the stakeholders, including cities and the county, met to discuss the plans, which head out for public comment this spring and summer.

According to a report from Erica Jacobs to the Committee of the Whole the county recently completed a full assessment of the land and is now ready to begin talking about possibilities on each individual segment.

The right-of-way for the new trail is an average of 60 to 80 feet wide, though there are several “pinch points,” including the section in Renton, where the BNSF tracks are hemmed in by steep slopes and the residential housing.

In some places, Jacobs said, it makes sense to keep the trail on top of the  rail bed, where in others, it can be placed near the track location, to keep alive the possibility of the rails once again being used for trains, though Jacobs admitted that was a “remote possibility” at best when asked about it by Councilmember Randy Corman.

Jacobs also said the City of Kirkland has already removed the tracks through their section and replaced it with a temporary trail. Jacobs said it was a “calculated risk” by the city, but added that the current tracks are not in the best of shape and would probably have to be replaced anyway if BNSF decided to press them back into service.

Deputy Public Works Administrator Doug Jacobson serves as Renton’s representative among the stakeholders and said this week that the  new trail could be a boon to the city.

“Done right, we see advantages to having that,” he said.

Public meetings on the proposals are scheduled to begin in June. For more info, visit http://www.kingcounty.gov/operations/erc-advisory-council.aspx