This January has seen an incredible amount of precipitation in Fremont, even for the typically rainy Pacific Northwest. By January 10th, Seattle had already gotten 50% of its normal amount of rain for this month – and nearby areas have broken records for the wettest first four days of the year.
Unfortunately, all this rain fills the old storm drains and washes sewage into our waterways. Preliminary data indicates that severe rain received before the recent holidays caused overflows of our storm drains – and led to more than 12 million gallons of polluted stormwater and sewage dumping into the Ship Canal and Lake Union. With the recent heavy rainfall, that number is probably rising again!
Once the Ship Canal Water Quality Project is complete, the sewage and stormwater that currently overflows into the public waterway will be captured in the elongated storage tank under construction beneath Ballard, Fremont & Wallingford.
Access will be from Queen Anne and Fremont, as well as the start and end in Wallingford and Ballard – and those sites are well underway. A boring machine, to create a tunnel from Ballard to Wallingford, is on its way to Seattle. A video, giving more information about the machine, can be seen on YouTube (click here.)
Meanwhile, 2021 will see more work as the Ship Canal Water Quality Project is under construction. Soil stabilization and ground improvement work will continue at the site in East Ballard, requiring continued detours by vehicles and bicycles at 11th Ave NW and NW 45th St. Bicycles and pedestrians will continue to detour around the access site in West Fremont, at Leary Way NW and 3rd Ave NW.
The work site, in East Fremont/Wallingford, will see several months of intense, loud construction as the access hole is created. The boring machine will exit the tunnel being built at this site, which will require a lot of construction and preparation at Interlake Ave N and N 35th St. A flyer detailing some of the work planned is available as a .pdf (click here.)
All the information about this ambitious, and lengthy, infrastructure project can be seen on the website (click here.) Questions about specific aspects of the Ship Canal Water Quality Project can be answered at SPU_ShipCanalProject@seattle.gov or 206/701-0233.