Lakefront street ends are portions of the city’s rights-of-way (ROW), or public easements, that “dead end” into public lakes. There are 13 lakefront street ends in Lakewood. These sites are not considered parks or parkland.
| Lakefront Street-ends | |
| Lake Steilacoom | |
| 1. | Westlake Ave. |
| 2. | Mt Tacoma Dr. |
| 3. | Beach Lane |
| 4. | Lake Ave. |
| 5. | 100th St |
| 6. | Holly Hedge |
| 7. | Edgewater Park |
| American Lake | |
| 8. | Lake City Blvd. |
| 9. | Wadsworth St. |
| Lake Louise | |
| 10. | 104th St/Melody Lane (boat launch) |
| 11. | Holden St |
| Gravelly Lake | |
| 12. | Hill Top Lane |
| 13. | Linwood Land |
2009 Lakefront Street End Study
From 2007 to 2009, the City comprehensively reviewed its lakefront street ends.
Lakefront Street Ends Policy City Council Study Session Report (PDF)
A 2009 study evaluated the public use of existing lakefront street ends. Each was evaluated by its dimensions, usable area, topography, vegetation, view, current recreation use, adjacent impacts, adjacent parking, and safety and vandalism control.
The highest-scoring lakefront street ends were:
- Edgewater Park (7)
- Lake City Boulevard (10)
- 104th St (8)
The lowest-scoring lakefront street ends were:
- Holly Hedge (6)
- Hill Top Lane (12)
- 100th St.
The City held four public meetings between September 2007 and January 2008 to gather public input on lakefront street-ends. After reviewing the information generated from the study and the public meetings, the Parks and Recreation Advisory Board (PRAB) made recommendations for lakefront street ends to the City Council.
The Table below provides the PRAB recommendations:
| # | Lake | 2009 PRAB Recommendations | ||
| Lake Steilacoom | ||||
| 1. | Westlake Ave. | Maintain, improve or develop | ||
| 2. | Mt Tacoma Dr. | Lease | ||
| 3. | Beach Lane | Maintain, improve or develop | ||
| 4. | Lake Ave. | Lease | ||
| 5. | 100th St | Vacate and sell | ||
| 6. | Holly Hedge | Vacate and sell | ||
| 7. | Edgewater Park | Maintain, improve or develop | ||
| American Lake | ||||
| 8. | Lake City Blvd. | Maintain, improve or develop | ||
| 9. | Wadsworth St. | Maintain, improve or develop | ||
| Lake Louise | ||||
| 10. | 104th St/Melody Ln | Maintain, improve or develop | ||
| 11. | Holden St | Maintain, improve or develop | ||
| Gravelly Lake | ||||
| 12. | Hill Top Lane | Leave as is | ||
| 13. | Linwood Land | Leave as is |
Leave as is means do no improvements and minimal maintenance.
Maintain, improve or develop means making waterfront street-ends more accessible for passive recreation uses such as walking, sitting on a bench, having a picnic, enjoying a view or launching a canoe.
Lease-designated street ends means preserving easement interests while collecting rent to be used for the improvement of waterfront street-ends.
Vacate and sell street ends means vacating the street at fair market pursuant to RCW 35.79.035.
In addition to the above recommendations, PRAB members also recommended to the City Council that the City should:
- Develop a formal master plan for each site designated “maintain, improve or develop.”
- Create signage and a management plan for each site that is designated for “maintain, improve or develop”.
- Maintain Wadsworth for public use including boat launchings.
- Establish a formal lease policy for the use of properties designated “lease” so they are available for future consideration.
- Use existing waterfront parks as ‘anchors’ from which to expand use through acquisition.
- Consider eminent domain to increase lakefront access and expand existing lakefront parks.
- Work with neighbors and the police department to develop block watches at improved sites.
- Re-examine options after 5 years if adjoining property owners haven’t leased or purchased designated sites.
- Pursue public/private partnerships to increase access to Gravelly Lake.
Since 2014, the City vacated one lakefront street-end abutting American Lake at Lakeland Avenue Southeast, see City Ordinance 665. Proceeds of this sale were used for improvements at Harry Todd Park. The City continues to evaluate the future of all remaining street ends.