Medina Spent 2026 Putting Its Parks Back. The New Parts Are Still on Paper.

The City of Medina finished a long list of park and trail work in 2026. It rebuilt a damaged dock, cleared invasive plants from a nature preserve, put new gravel on a stretch of the Points Loop, and installed a system at the Medina Park ponds designed to let the beavers stay. All of that work restored what was already there. The projects that would add something new are still in design, permitting, or discussion. That includes the Fairweather footbridge, a redesigned Post Office Park, new trees at Medina Beach Park, and a path underpass at SR 520. So in November you're walking the repaired version of Medina, and the next version is still being drawn.

The Lake Lane Dock Came Back Exactly as It Was

The small public dock at Lake Lane was badly damaged in May 2026 and stayed closed all summer. The city's September Public Works report describes fire damage, and the council's October budget packet says the dock was vandalized. The dock sits over Lake Washington, which counts as waters of the state, so the city had to get a permit from the Washington Department of Fish and Wildlife before any repairs could start. The September Public Works Monthly Report says coordinating that permit with state agencies and consultants took several months. After it was issued, Waterfront Construction restored the dock "to its original condition."

The October 26 budget packet puts the repair at $80,691, covered by insurance, and says the dock was restored in August 2026. So a summer of paperwork and an $80,000 repair produced a dock that looks just like the one that was there in April. That was the goal.

The dock is still easy to miss. The city's Lake Lane dock page says you can only reach it on foot, down a long driveway, and that there's no parking. The city's parks plan puts it in the 3300 block of 78th Place NE, at the end of a narrow driveway. The plan lists a pier but no designated swimming area and describes the spot as a place to view the waterfront. In late fall that makes it a short stop to look at the water, which is how the plan describes it.

The Medina Park Ponds Got a Way to Keep Their Beavers

The second restoration is at Medina Park, the 17.5-acre park at NE 12th Street and 82nd Avenue NE. Beavers have been active around its ponds and wetland for several years. Recently they built a dam that slowed water leaving the ponds and pushed water levels higher than usual. The city got a Hydraulic Project Approval permit, and Public Works staff installed a "Beaver Deceiver." It lets water keep flowing while making it harder for the beavers to block the outlet.

The same report gives the city's reasoning:

"This system should provide a long-term solution for maintaining water flow and reducing flooding issues and allow the beavers to remain in the area."

The city chose to manage the water and leave the animals, which is the same approach it took with the dock. The aim is ponds that work the way they used to, with the wildlife that gave the park its character left in place.

The city's parks plan calls Medina Park an urban bird-watching destination and lists Canada geese, mallards, wood ducks, cormorants, and great blue herons among the waterfowl seen there. The eBird checklist for Medina Park has Canada geese, mallards, and a great blue heron recorded on September 3, 2026. The two original low spots in the park are now stormwater detention ponds, ringed by gravel paths and plenty of benches. On the southwest bank of the north pond, residents hung Dudley Carter's carving "Wind Song" from a rough-hewn post. They bought it to celebrate the woodcarver's 100th birthday. A stone sculpture donated by Medina resident Peter Skinner stands in the park's southwest corner.

If you bring a dog, the parks plan says the eastern, non-irrigated part of the park is the year-round off-leash area. The western lawn is set aside as on-leash from May through September. The city's Medina Park page sends visitors to the municipal code for current hours and rules, so check there before you go.

A Walk Past Each 2026 Repair

The Points Loop Trail ties the repaired places together. The city describes the full route as about 8 miles, roughly a three-hour walk, linking Medina, Clyde Hill, Hunts Point, and Yarrow Point on a mix of off-street trails and sidewalks. The city's transportation plan says the trail uses the asphalt path next to SR 520 and connects to the SR 520 regional trail.

Here are the city-documented stops that show this year's work:

1. Medina Park, NE 12th Street and 82nd Avenue NE. The ponds with the Beaver Deceiver, "Wind Song" on the north pond, and the year-round off-leash section on the east side.
2. The resurfaced Points Loop segment, NE 24th Street north to NE 28th Street. About 1,200 linear feet of gravel walkway were resurfaced in 2026, and the city now lists the project as completed. The September report also lists the gravel sidewalk at Old Route 520 Road as finished, and a new Points Loop Trail QR-code sign as completed.
3. Fairweather Nature Preserve, Evergreen Point Road and NE 32nd Street. The preserve covers 10.4 acres of forest trails, a stream, and a natural wetland, bordered by Evergreen Point Road, NE 32nd Street, 80th Avenue NE, and SR 520. As of September 14, the invasive-species removal was finished. The city's preserve page also lists a small field and two first-come, first-served tennis courts.
4. Lake Lane dock, off 78th Place NE. On foot only. Back in service since August.
5. Medina Beach Park, 501 Evergreen Point Road. Fifty feet of sandy beach, a dock, a swim float, and walk-in water access for paddleboards and kayaks, right next to City Hall. Lifeguards are only on duty in July and August.

Some of the year's quieter work is just as practical. The city's monthly report lists automated restroom locks at Medina Park and Medina Beach Park as completed. The 2026 Overlake Drive East bridge repair, which included timber pile-cap work and concrete tub-girder repairs, was marked complete on July 30. Neither project changes how the places look. Both keep them working.

The Projects That Would Add Something New

The city's own status list shows where restoration stops and the planned additions begin. Each item below would make a park different, and none had been built as of the latest city reports.

The underpass matters most for the Points Loop, since the trail already runs along SR 520. The October 26 council agenda groups it with two other SR 520 issues the city still needs to take up with WSDOT: noise from the highway's expansion joints, and who maintains, and is liable for, the lid structures in the Points communities. The city's transportation plan describes the Evergreen Point Road lid as a landscaped public space with a viewing area and paths down to the freeway transit stops. Until the underpass gets a date, that lid stays the way the trail meets the highway.

One more project will affect the north end of the walk. Bellevue Water has hired Kar-Vel Construction to replace aging watermains along about 615 feet of NE 28th Street and about 1,280 feet of 79th Avenue NE. The September report expects about eight weeks of construction, plus a full grind-and-overlay repaving scheduled for summer 2027. NE 28th Street is also where the newly resurfaced Points Loop segment ends, so the streets around that stretch will look different again before the work is done.

You can follow the next round of decisions on the city calendar. It lists a council meeting on November 9, a council special meeting on November 16, and a Park Board special meeting on November 17. According to the September report, the Post Office Park design goes to the Park Board for discussion before it reaches council.

The walk most worth taking in November starts at the Medina Park ponds, where the city's new flow device is built to keep the water moving.

If you're thinking about how a home relates to the dock, the preserve, or the Points Loop, or about how the planned projects could change your corner of Medina, I'm happy to talk it through with you, calmly and without any pressure. Andrea Korican can share what she knows about these places and the city projects still to come. Let's Connect.