Bellevue Parks and Community Services hopes to begin upgrading a Coal Creek trailhead along Newcastle Golf Club Road by late July, placing a nine-stall parking lot there, mitigating runoff and the planting of 12,000 square feet of native plants.

A critical areas land use permit from 2010 was resubmitted for approval last week after expiring, along with with a clearing and grading permit. Project manager Geoff Bradley states construction will begin as soon as permits are issued, possibly as late as early August.

One of four alternatives considered by Barker Landscape Architects and determined least disruptive to the disturbed site, the parking lot would replace an overlay of quarry spalls. The proposal is stated to be a lesser cost to the city by avoiding total restoration of the site and improving access to Coal Creek Park.

Stormwater runoff on the western portion of the site would divert to a new water quality pond and tie into an existing stormwater pipeline, which would also be used on the eastern portion through biofiltration swales and/or filter strips.

This project is proposed to be less expensive than the explored option of placing a footbridge across Lakemont Boulevard to tie an existing Red Town Trailhead parking lot to Coal Creek Park.

On top of the 12,000 square feet of native plant species, the project will also remove invasive plant species, the most prominent being the Himalayan blackberry.