The Seattle Department of Transportation will be diverting Burke-Gilman Trail traffic within the segment that runs from Golden Gardens parks to Northwest 60th Street starting Monday, Dec. 15 to replace a section that has been damaged by horsetails plants.

The cost of the fix is estimated at about $45,000 said LeAnne Nelson, a transportation department spokesperson.

"It's about 450 feet of trail and this is something we have not run into before with our trail projects," said Nelson.

Signage will clarify the brief detour, according to a city release.

The horsetail plant is native to both North America and Europe and is one of only a few Equisetum survivors from the dinosaur era. Horsetails are very strong and reproduce by spores; horizontal rhizomes and tubers that along this section of the trail are growing up through 3 to 4 inches of asphalt.

The fix is to replace this section of trail with concrete, more costly but structurally strong enough to stay put in a horsetail growth area.

The work is expected to be completed by the end of the year.