When I was a kid I knew how to get around my neighborhood. I was certain I had the fastest way to school, the shortest trips to my friends’ houses or the quickest route to the candy store. This expediency was accomplished by many ‘cut-throughs’ I had mapped out and much like Ferris Bueller many of my routes took me through neighbor’s backyards. When you’re a kid, relying on your own two feet to walk or pedal a bicycle or ride a skateboard gives you a perspective and a sense of your neighborhood that adults don’t get.

After having lived in Montlake for a number of years and used modes of transportation other than a car to get around it has dawned on me that we have many beautiful and public cut-throughs. These cut-throughs probably see more traffic now than they have in the past as we all try and reduce our use of our cars. Some of these cut-throughs will also vanish or be changed as the 520 project continues its inevitable westward roll. While the Bill Dawson Trail may be dangerous and slightly seedy, I will miss the mood of it. Some of what makes these paths so appealing is that they are unvarnished and they feel like a neighborhood secret.

There’s nothing wrong with feeling like a kid again so I encourage you to get out and walk, run or ride through all these paths and see how much faster they get you to where you’re going.

– 15th Ave to E. Calhoun

– Bill Dawson Trail under 520 off ramp

– path from 19th Ave E to the Montlake Community Center

– 19th Ave E cut through

– 22nd Ave E stairs from E Blaine St

– stairs to the cut on the east side of Montlake Blvd E

– path under Montlake Blvd E on the south side of the cut