Shoreline street ends in Seattle

[1] Three years later, this was enhanced with a statement, "Fees for use of shoreline street ends may take into consideration City policy of discouraging encroachments inconsistent with the public right of access to shorelines and may be included in the schedule of fees for use of public places under the jurisdiction of Seattle Transportation.

Since the adoption of this resolution, it has been city policy to preserve these numerous street ends for public access.

This law favors "Port, beach or water access, boat moorage, launching sites, park, public view, recreation, or education" as getting automatic precedence over other uses.

One example can be found in the Eastlake neighborhood, where a longstanding foot and bicycle route along the east side of Lake Union was disrupted by a series of permits issued between 1957 and 1992, which allowed buildings and a marina to build into the historic right of way, to the point of completely preempting public passage along the shore from E. Edgar Street to E. Hamlin Street.

When the program began, many of these street ends had been de facto integrated into neighbors' yards and business areas, with access limited by fences and hedges, and with people having placed gardens, children's swing sets, and even hot tubs; some business had annexed them for equipment storage.

1, a former ferry landing at the foot of NE 35th Street in Laurelhurst on Union Bay[19] and the elaborately landscaped Waterway 15 immediately west of Ivar's Salmon House at the foot of 4th Ave NE on the north shore of Lake Union/Portage Bay.

[20] Others remain in a bit of a limbo, such as Gateway Park North, the street end of 8th Avenue South in Georgetown on the northeast side of the Duwamish Waterway, open to the public but undeveloped, with jurisdictional issues still being sorted out.

One of the few publicly accessible beaches in Ballard on Salmon Bay can be reached from the NW 57th St Shoreline street end. Looking toward Magnolia on the opposite shore.
Looking north from E. Roanoke Mini Park toward E. Hamlin Street. E. Edgar Street is about halfway between; there is an easy land route from E. Edgar Street to E. Roanoke Street.
Waterway 15 on North Lake Union, 2022