Pacific Northwest - Burien to Redmond

Well, about a month ago I was laid off from my job in downtown Seattle. I've been doing the old job search thing and one of the positions I'm being offered is at Microsoft in Redmond (yeah, I know...I'll probably have to change my handle to Sellout :)).

Checking with Google Maps, it looks like the distance from here to there is 23-24 miles. Not nearly as nice as the 14 I was doing to downtown, but well within my range (since I've been off, I've been doing 35-40 mile rides 3-5 times a week). The question is, what route would be best? I'm not an east side rider, so I'd like to ask anyone who rides the east side how they'd get from Renton/the LW Trail to the Microsoft campus. Information on things like terrain (flat is better), lights (fewer is better), road conditions (wide and paved is good), traffic (lighter is better), etc. would be much appreciated.

Well, about a month ago I was laid off from my job in downtown Seattle. I've been doing the old job search thing and one of the positions I'm being offered is at Microsoft in Redmond (yeah, I know...I'll probably have to change my handle to Sellout :)).

Checking with Google Maps, it looks like the distance from here to there is 23-24 miles. Not nearly as nice as the 14 I was doing to downtown, but well within my range (since I've been off, I've been doing 35-40 mile rides 3-5 times a week). The question is, what route would be best? I'm not an east side rider, so I'd like to ask anyone who rides the east side how they'd get from Renton/the LW Trail to the Microsoft campus. Information on things like terrain (flat is better), lights (fewer is better), road conditions (wide and paved is good), traffic (lighter is better), etc. would be much appreciated.

I've got a co-worker who does Renton to Redmond a couple times a week. Let me ask him what his route is, and from there you can just tack on the extra to get to the Microsoft Campus. (Which building would you be in?)

I've done that ride on weekends, not to commute.

I would do it like this if I were in a hurry:

Assuming you are coming up the east side of Lake Washington on the bike path -- you cross under I90 on 118th Ave...

- 118th Avenue north to Main Street
- Take Main Street East across the 405 to 116th Avenue
- Take 116th Avenue north to Northrup Way (which at that point is just north of 520)
- Go east about two blocks until you get to the 520 bike path.
- Take the 520 bike path to MSFT.

For the most part this is pretty flat -- the 118th Ave / 116 Ave ride north is the least-hilly way to get through Bellevue, IMO. The most traffic would be on 116th Ave, but it's a pretty wide street with good visibility. Lots of traffic but I feel safe-ish on it.

There are other ways to do it but that's the fastest/safest way I know...

Thanks for the recommendations, guys. I'll do a trial ride this weekend for timing and to check out the route. I'll be in building 26, I believe.

I've done that ride on weekends, not to commute.

I would do it like this if I were in a hurry:

Assuming you are coming up the east side of Lake Washington on the bike path -- you cross under I90 on 118th Ave...

- 118th Avenue north to Main Street
- Take Main Street East across the 405 to 116th Avenue
- Take 116th Avenue north to Northrup Way (which at that point is just north of 520)
- Go east about two blocks until you get to the 520 bike path.
- Take the 520 bike path to MSFT.

For the most part this is pretty flat -- the 118th Ave / 116 Ave ride north is the least-hilly way to get through Bellevue, IMO. The most traffic would be on 116th Ave, but it's a pretty wide street with good visibility. Lots of traffic but I feel safe-ish on it.

There are other ways to do it but that's the fastest/safest way I know...


Another option would be at I-90 to head east up the trail to Factoria.
Cross over to the north side of I-90 at Factoria Blvd and go up Eastgate way (bit of a hill).
Turn left (north) onto 156th.
At about Main Street, turn right (east) and make your way to 164th. Turn left and keep going north.
Turn left (west) at NE30th.
That'll take you to MSFT campus.

This is a pretty low traffic route and only the Eastgate hill which isn't too bad (to me at least).
116th is pretty busy during the week and I hate the intersections on the 520 trail.

Another option would be at I-90 to head east up the trail to Factoria.
Cross over to the north side of I-90 at Factoria Blvd and go up Eastgate way (bit of a hill).
Turn left (north) onto 156th.
At about Main Street, turn right (east) and make your way to 164th. Turn left and keep going north.
Turn left (west) at NE30th.
That'll take you to MSFT campus.

This is a pretty low traffic route and only the Eastgate hill which isn't too bad (to me at least).
116th is pretty busy during the week and I hate the intersections on the 520 trail.

This is a better route than the one I suggested....

Well, I've done the trip a couple of times now and the route above, with one exception, seems to work pretty well. The only change I made was to turn East onto the Lake Hills Connector and take that up to 164th rather than go all the way down to Main. That change lessens the amount of time I spend on 156th, which is the worst part of the ride as far as traffic is concerned. Lake Hills has a bike lane too, so I'm a little better separated from traffic.

Starting from South Renton (near Ikea), it was about 20 miles and took me an hour and 45 minutes each way today. That's not too bad, all things considered, in my opinion. I'm sure I'll get faster over time.

Well, I've done the trip a couple of times now and the route above, with one exception, seems to work pretty well. The only change I made was to turn East onto the Lake Hills Connector and take that up to 164th rather than go all the way down to Main. That change lessens the amount of time I spend on 156th, which is the worst part of the ride as far as traffic is concerned. Lake Hills has a bike lane too, so I'm a little better separated from traffic.

Starting from South Renton (near Ikea), it was about 20 miles and took me an hour and 45 minutes each way today. That's not too bad, all things considered, in my opinion. I'm sure I'll get faster over time.

Yeah in all honesty, I probably wouldn't do that 156th route as I originally described.
I've got a more complicated to describe route involving 161st from Eastgate around Phantom Lake
that'll take you to 164th. If you look at a map it's pretty obvious though. That route is pretty low
traffic as well.

You can also turn off Eastgate to 139th, up Kamber (it's not steep there), then north onto 145th (by QFC).
Then you can go north to Lake Hills Blvd or Main and take them to 164th.

Yet another option is to go up the Park and Ride garage on Eastgate way to Bellevue CC and go through
the campus to 145th.

If you want to do more hill, you can also go north on Richards Rd from Factoria which will take you to
the Lake Hills Connector. Go up that to 140th and head north to Main. This wouldn't work as well going
home since Lk Hills Connector doesn't have a shoulder going down the hill and traffic moves pretty fast
there.

Note that Lake Hills Connector is different from Lake Hills Blvd and they're not a continuous road.