In the early 1970’s the loop road connecting East and West Beaver Lake Dr. SE was completed. The driving motivation at that time was to provide emergency services access to resident on the Eastern portion of the lake. The road then as now, was designed for a light traffic load at slow speeds. The road follows natural contours without adequate sight lines for higher vehicle speeds, and does not have sidewalks, wide shoulders or lighting. With the limited access currently available, the traffic load is light enough that Beaver Lake Dr SE has become a very popular recreational corridor where hikers, joggers, cyclists and others may enjoy the scenic and natural beauty of the area.
When controversial high density developments to the North and East of the Lake such as Trossachs were platted more than 10 years ago, there was an explicit understanding that these developments would not have access to Beaver Lake Dr. Connecting roads were roughed in to facilitate movement of emergency vehicles and these connectors with barriers in place do allow for this to occur as needed.
City of Sammamish Established Evaluation Process for Existing Barricade and Emergency Gates