 Happy Earth Month!
 Canoe on Lake Union
April is Earth Month! It’s a great time to check in on why we’re even digging a big tunnel from Ballard to Wallingford in the first place. Some older parts of Seattle have a combined sewer system, which means that stormwater and sewage use the same pipes. With population growth and climate change, water often exceeds the pipes’ capacity during rain events, sending untreated sewage and stormwater into the Lake Washington Ship Canal. These overflows contain pollutants and can harm fish, wildlife, and the environment.
Our solution? Let’s take some of that wastewater – up to 29 million gallons of it – and put it somewhere else. The tunnel that MudHoney, our 18-ft tunnel boring machine, is digging will eventually hold excess stormwater and sewage until it can be sent to the West Point Treatment Plant in Magnolia. This prevents the treatment plant from getting overloaded and allows us to treat our excess wastewater later before releasing it back into Puget Sound. When the Ship Canal Water Quality project is complete, the tunnel will help reduce over 75 million gallons of polluted stormwater and sewage from flowing into the Ship Canal, Salmon Bay, and Lake Union annually during heavy storms.
To learn more about how Seattle Public Utilities and King County are incorporating sustainability into this project, take a look at our fact sheet.
Ballard & MudHoney
MudHoney continues to tunnel toward Wallingford. During tunneling activities, you should anticipate:
- Truck deliveries of concrete segments and MudHoney equipment
- Nighttime segment deliveries and tunnel spoils being hauled off
- Noise and vibrations typical of a construction site
Crews are working 24 hours a day, six days a week and will continue until MudHoney reaches Wallingford by early 2023. Sunday work may also occur.
Ground monitoring is ongoing along the tunnel alignment and is done from both inside MudHoney and on the surface.
East Ballard
Excavation work for the underground mechanical and electrical vault on NW 45th St continues. When excavation begins for a smaller vault in late spring, 11th Ave NW will be reduced to one lane. Flaggers will direct northbound and southbound traffic, and additional directional signage will be in place.
You should anticipate:
- Starting as soon as June, one-lane closure on 11th Ave NW through November 2022
- Heavy equipment in the area
- NW 45th St closed to traffic; vehicles must detour onto NW 46th St
- Burke-Gilman Trail users remain detoured to the north side of NW 45th St
- Flaggers will help direct traffic during daytime working hours. Please follow all detour guidance on site. For safety, bicyclists should either dismount or cross train tracks at a 90-degree angle. Please use extra caution in wet weather as ramps may be slippery.
- Noise and vibrations typical of a construction site
Regular work hours will be Monday through Friday, from 7 am to 5 pm. Night and weekend work may occur.
Fremont
Lane reductions on Leary Way NW, between 1st Ave NW and NW 39th St, will be in place through mid-May so crews can conduct utility work on Leary Way NW now that jet grouting is complete. Crews will also be working on large eight-foot conveyance tunnel pipes inside the white tents from 7 am to 10 pm on weekdays, and possibly 9 am to 10 pm on weekends, over the next two to three months.
During this time, you should anticipate:
- Dust and grinding noise
- Lane reductions on Leary Way NW
- Piling rig in Leary Way NW installing piles for water mains thrust restraint blocks
- Excavators working on-site for utility installation work
- Truck traffic on Leary Way NW as trucks bring and remove materials to and from the site
- NW 36th St between Leary Way NW and 3rd Ave NW closed (through the remainder of the project)
- Pedestrian detours on Leary Way NW; please follow all detour guidance on site
- Generators running during work hours to power equipment
- 2nd Ave NW, between Leary Way NW and NW Canal St, closed to vehicle and pedestrian traffic for sewer and diversion structure work at least through the end of 2022
- NW Canal St open to two-way traffic to allow access during this closure. Please do not park at the west end of NW Canal St so two-way traffic may turn around at the closure.
- Noise and vibrations typical of a construction site
Regular work hours will be Monday through Friday, from 7 am to 5 pm. Work inside the tents may occur during nights and weekends as described above.
Wallingford
Construction activities are paused at this location until concrete is available.
When work resumes, you should anticipate:
- Concrete trucks coming in and out of the site
- Noise and vibrations typical of a construction site
Regular work hours will be Monday through Friday, from 7 am to 5 pm.
Queen Anne
Crews are resuming work on two of three below-grade vaults, including formwork and rebar placement. Construction of the third below-grade vault will begin early summer, which will require a slight change to the Ship Canal Trail detour.
During this time, you should anticipate:
- Trucks coming in and out of the site
- Noise and vibrations typical of a construction site
- The West Ewing Mini Park parking lot to remain closed through mid-2023
- A localized Ship Canal Trail detour at least through summer 2023 (see map). The trail will be adjusted north later this year for construction of the third below-grade vault. Details and schedule for intermittent changes to come.
Regular work hours will be Monday through Friday, from 7 am to 5 pm. Night and weekend work may occur.
Contact us
Please email SPU_ShipCanalProject@seattle.gov with questions or comments or call our hotline at (206) 701-0233. You can also find information online at spushipcanal.participate.online. To support the community during active tunneling, we have changed our hotline hours to 24 hours a day, Monday through Friday.
Construction Safety is Everyone’s Job
Check out some top safety tips at www.seattle.gov/utilities/constructionsafety
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