The City of Seattle Public Utilities Ship Canal Water Quality Project is proceeding forward, to create a storm water retention tank beneath Ballard and Fremont. Bicyclists and pedestrians will likely feel the pinch as the construction causes a detour of the Burke-Gilman and Ship Canal Trails.
The underground, elongated storm water tank has an access point at 11th Ave NW and NW 45th St, near the Fred Meyer store. This will require a detour of the bike trail on the north side of NW 45th St, especially as contractors remove the sidewalk on the south side. Much of the work being done here will be on soil stabilization to protect the buried tank to be installed.
The worksite at NW 36th St and 2nd Ave NW (former location of Fleur de Lis Statuary,) will be hosting more work, now with the sidewalk and some utilities on NW 36th to be removed. A temporary storm drain bypass will be installed, and existing asphalt will be removed. This will require the closure of NW 36th St between Leary Way NW and 3rd Ave NW for the duration of the project.
As to work coming to the north Queen Anne/south Fremont area, near West Ewing mini-park, trees will be removed on the work area (to be replaced later.) A construction fence will be erected on the site, as will stormwater control and soil monitoring equipment. Unfortunately, this work area will require re-routing of the Ship Canal Trail on to West Nickerson St.
The Ship Canal Water Quality Project is a deep, infrastructure construction project, that will ultimately clean our watershed, but is likely to impact many, many of those who live, work and play in the area. For more information, please visit the website (click here,) for details about this massive construction project. If you have additional questions, please contact SPU_ShipCanalProject@seattle.gov or 206/701-0233.