A large tree fell on to the closed stairs at Burien’s Eagle Landing Park this week, as seen in this photo sent by a reader:

As we’ve previously reported, the stairs at the park have been closed for years, but they’ve become much more dangerous and unstable due to this fallen tree, as well as a landslide that hit in Dec., 2019.

The city sent us this announcement shortly after that slide:

The Eagle Landing Stairs have been closed to the public for many months based on their dangerous condition and the public has been encouraged not to access these stairs. While we have closed and secured the stairs for public access based on safety concerns, the fencing and signage has been continually removed. Signage has been reinstalled this weekend and the public is once again encouraged not to use the stairs.

Erosion and earth movement surrounding the stairs has impacted the structure of the stairs. With the significant amount of rain these past several days, the stairs are even more precarious with further erosion occurring beneath the stairs. Access to these stairs has been closed by the City. Planning to remove the stairs is ongoing and is a significant Public Works/PaRCs project.

The storm drainage system that drains into Eagle Landing Park has functioned as designed and is draining onto a feeder slope. It is the City’s position that this drainage system is not related or contributing to the failing of the Eagle Landing stairs which have been closed to the public for many months. The City has conducted significant geo-technical work that supports this conclusion. Even with these reports, the City is designing a system to pipe the storm water through Eagle Landing Park to the shoreline area. These efforts are ongoing.

PaRCS Department staff and Burien Police will be in the area to ensure the Eagle Landing Park stairs are not utilized by the public.

Here’s more from the city’s website:

The Eagle Landing Park property was acquired in 2002. A commitment for project funding was that no structures would be built that would impact natural sediment delivery to the shoreline, such as bulkheads. Stairs connecting people to the shoreline were constructed in 2005. Starting in late 2014, damage to the stairs was noticed and the stairway was closed to public use due to safety concerns. In late 2015, lower sections of the stairs were removed because they were falling down the hillside from erosion undercutting. On November 21, 2016, City Council approved as part of the 2017–2018 budget a project to terminate the stairs mid-slope at a platform and remove the lower portion of the stairs. Since the stairway closure, the site has been frequently monitored and evaluated for hillside stability.

 

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