Recently renovated in 2019, the Northup Way to Crossroads Trail connects the busy Northup Way directly south to the very popular Crossroads Park in Bellevue WA. It is meant as a pedestrian walk only, allowing walkers to avoid closeby cars and bicyclists and still have a great endpoint (the really nice Crossroads Park) to head for.
My daughter takes her dog walking on this path, and the current setting is much improved from the 'before' pictures shown on the city website (a Powerpoint deck explaining why the trail needed to be upgraded). This included asphalt paving from end to end, fixing of fences on both sides to block views of the houses on either side, and grading/drainage to eliminate standing water that probably made this trail unusable before. Both sides of the trail are fully enclosed by wooden 6 foot fences, providing noise and sight relief for trail users and residents of private adjoining houses, alike)....but there are no easy exits once you enter the trail until you reach the end. One thing of note is that there is a 1 foot gap between the fence and the ground, allowing small animals to easily crawl underneath. If a pet does get loose and decides to chase the multitude of wild animals in the region, there would be no way to chase after it unless you were tall and limber enough to jump the fence, which I daresay 99% of trail users (including us) would not be able to do. read more