The University of Washington plans $19 million in improvements to the section of the Burke-Gilman Trail that runs through the Seattle campus.

UW transportation services director Josh Kavanagh told the Seattle Daily Journal of Commerce ( http://bit.ly/Wz0FWU) it's gone from being a nice amenity to being critical infrastructure.

The UW says its 2-mile section of the 27-mile-long trail has the highest bicycle and pedestrian traffic of any shared-use path in the state: 500 bicyclist and 300 pedestrians an hour. About 9 percent of UW students and staff commute by bike.

Trail use is expected to grow with a light rail station opening in 2016 at Husky Stadium.

Improvements will widen the trail and create separate lanes for walking and bicycling. The work could start this fall.

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Information from: Seattle Daily Journal of Commerce, http://www.djc.com/