It's a done deal.

After years of talk, Port of Seattle and King County executives signed a final agreement Monday to put a 42-mile Eastside rail corridor into public ownership.

The deal paves the way for a possible combination of freight rail, commuter trains, and biking and hiking trails, but many details remain to be worked out.

With Bellevue's spectacular Wilburton Trestle as a backdrop, Port CEO Tay Yoshitani and County Executive Ron Sims made official the deal under which the Port will pay BNSF Railway $107 million for the Renton-toSnohomish rail line.

BNSF CEO Matt Rose signed the deal earlier.

Port Commission President John Creighton said the Port wanted to make sure the rail line wasn't sold off in pieces and felt public ownership would support the Port's goal of moving people and goods.

King County will pay the Port $1.9 million for an easement to build a trail from Woodinville to Renton and Woodinville to Redmond. Freight trains will continue to run north of Woodinville.

The county and Port will negotiate trail alignment after a public process on uses of the corridor that will start soon and will be finished early next year.