READER REPORT: ’40 years later at Lincoln Park’

| West Seattle history | West Seattle news | West Seattle parks

That’s how Mara captioned these photos she sent us of work under way today on the north Lincoln Park waterfront trail, with a bit more explanation:

The uncovering of the retaining wall holding up much of the North End of the Park trails around the water. Thank you to Seattle Parks and Recreation for bringing the park back to life.

Much of the Lincoln Park infrastructure is a lot older than 40 years old – built in the 1930s. We’ll check with Seattle Parks tomorrow to see if they can tell us more about the retaining-wall work.

Regular park user August 27, 2026 (8:31 pm)

We visited with workers a bit and nobody mentioned building any retaining walls. They were cutting back the blackberry plants that have encroached on the trail.

AN August 27, 2026 (10:28 pm)

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Existing. I believe they are existing.

JustSarah August 27, 2026 (9:06 pm)

OMG. Is it supposed to be that wide? Wow, that’s a huge win to regain that space. I’ve lived in West Seattle for literally 20 years, going to LP regularly, and that section always felt too narrow when walking my dog with others using the path. This is a game-changer and we’ll check it out tomorrow!

MacJ August 27, 2026 (11:07 pm)

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Same! I always bike that trail on the way to Colman pool, and I frequently have to dismount or ride perilously close to the edge to make sure I’m passing safely. Extra space will help everybody!

TimW August 28, 2026 (5:54 am)

I remember when that wall went in after a pretty substantial mudslide covered the trail about 4’ deep

MindTheTrail August 28, 2026 (6:46 am)

YAY! Hopefully this means there will now be adequate space for walkers, runners and bikers. A friendly request for people biking this trail: In the era of everyone wearing headphones and not paying attention to their surroundings, please, please signal when zooming past/through people. Last week my partner and I were almost struck by not one but 4 different bikers from behind who did not “use their words” or even a bell to signal their presence. Also, there is a posted bike speed limit, I wish people would follow it.