Tag: seward park

City Light Plans Silicone Cable Injection In Parts of Service Territory

Seattle City Light will start another project this October to enhance the reliability and extend the life of aging underground electrical cables in parts of Shoreline, Lake Forest Park and Seattle by injecting them with silicone.

City Light’s contractor, Novinium, will test and where possible, inject underground cables with silicone to fill cracks in the cable insulation to prevent outages. This work will extend the life of the cable for an additional 25 years and improve electrical reliability. If cables are not suited for injection, they will be replaced at a later time.

Please refer to the construction notification fliers for approximate construction areas:

This project is expected to start in early-to-mid October 2015 and extend for approximately six weeks. Work hours are scheduled for Monday to Friday, from 8:30 a.m. to 4:30 p.m. During construction, customers should expect some traffic and parking impacts in the immediate area. Crews will be careful to try and maintain access to driveways.

Several maintenance outages are required for this work. Affected customers will be notified the Thursday before the following week’s outage. The outage date and time will be specified on the notification.

Past cable injection projects in neighborhoods such as Sandpoint, Queen Anne and Delridge have succeeded in extending the lifespan of aging cables and improving reliability at a lower cost than replacement. A 2011 cost comparison showed that the average cost of cable injection was $25, compared to $248 for cable replacement.

Customers can contact the following Electrical Service Representatives for more information:

For more information, please visit our construction website: http://www.seattle.gov/light/atwork/release.asp?RN=340

Seward Park swimming beach will open after two days of clean water samples

Seattle’s Seward Park swimming beach will reopen Saturday, after two consecutive days of testing showed the water safe for recreation. But a four-block stretch of Lake Washington remains closed to contact by humans and pets pending further testing.

The section of Lake Washington shoreline near Wednesday’s sewage spill site — from South Angeline Street north to the 4200 block of Lake Washington Boulevard South (including Lakewood Moorage) — remains closed. Additional testing will be conducted this weekend.

Seattle Parks and Recreation, Seattle Public Utilities (SPU) and Public Health–Seattle and King County closed areas of the lake Wednesday after problems with a pipe valve caused an estimated 12,000 gallons sewage to spill near South Alaska Street and Lake Washington Boulevard South, more than a mile north of the Seward Park beach.

Wednesday and Thursday, SPU sampled eight locations along Lake Washington Boulevard for fecal coliform bacteria, an indicator of sewage. All locations but one, including the Seward Park swimming beach, showed extremely low concentrations of fecal bacteria.

Water tests over the past two days near the spill site showed an elevated level of bacteria. The area will be tested again over the weekend.

SPU has determined that the spill occurred when a repair crew — relying on an outdated reference document — accidentally closed an electrically controlled pipe valve that should have remained open. Closing the valve caused sewage to spill into the lake. SPU is reviewing its procedures to ensure this type of mistake does not reoccur.

Seattle Parks and Recreation and SPU have posted warning signs in the area, which will be removed as soon as possible.

King County routinely monitors water quality at all swimming beaches in the area. These results are reported at http://green2.kingcounty.gov/swimbeach/.

Learn more about Seattle Public Utilities, at: www.seattle.gov/util.

Watch a short video about SPU.

Follow SPU on Twitter: www.twitter.com/SeattleSPU.

Deadline Approaches for Matching Funds to Support your Neighborhood Project

September 2 workshop for interested applicants
Application deadline is October 5

If your group needs funds to do a neighborhood project, our Neighborhood Matching Fund may be able to help. However, you’ll need to be quick because the application deadline for the Small and Simple Projects Fund is Monday, October 5 at 5:00 p.m. This fund provides awards of up to $25,000 to for community-building projects that are matched by community contributions.

To learn about the Small and Simple Projects Fund, visit seattle.gov/neighborhoods/nmf/smallandsimple.htm. This is the last opportunity in 2015 to apply to this fund.

The final workshop is scheduled for Wednesday, September 2 from 6:00 – 8:00 p.m. at University Heights Community Center (Room 209), 5031 University Way NE. The workshop provides an overview of the Neighborhood Matching Fund, the qualities of a good project, and the application process and requirements. To RSVP, go online at surveymonkey.com/r/ZHM36BJ or call  206-233-0093. The workshop is open to all.

Our Neighborhood Matching Fund staff is available to advise groups on ways to develop successful applications and projects. You are strongly encouraged to call 206.233.0093 or email NMFund@seattle.gov to discuss your project idea with one of our project managers.

The Neighborhood Matching Fund (NMF) Program awards matching funds for projects initiated, planned, and implemented by community members. Its goal is to build stronger and healthier neighborhoods through community involvement and engagement. Every award is matched by a neighborhood’s contribution of volunteer labor, donated materials, in-kind professional services, or cash.

Seward Park beach closed after Lake Washington sewage spill

Park to remain closed at least until test results are back, Thursday afternoon

Seattle’s Seward Park swimming beach has been ordered closed following a large sewage spill Wednesday morning into Lake Washington.

Seattle Parks and Recreation and Seattle Public Utilities made the decision to close the park based on the size of the spill, estimated at about 12,000 gallons. The park will remain closed at least until test results are back from the lab, tomorrow afternoon.

The cause of the spill, from a city sewage storage facility, is under investigation.

Learn more about Seattle Public Utilities, at: www.seattle.gov/util.

Watch a short video about SPU.

Follow SPU on Twitter: www.twitter.com/SeattleSPU.

Seattle Public Utilities provides essential services — pure mountain drinking water, recycling and composting that lead the nation, and sewer and drainage systems to protect our local waterways — that safeguard your health and our shared environment, and help keep Seattle the best place to live.

 

Seward Park water system project will close sections of loop trail

Seattle Parks and Recreation is replacing the domestic water system throughout Seward Park necessitating closure of sections of the Shore Loop Road (pedestrian and bike trail).

Parks’ contractor for the project, Jansen Inc., will temporarily close 1,000 feet of the road at a time during construction hours, Monday – Friday, between 7 a.m. and 4 p.m. During these hours, visitors will not be able to detour around the construction area. There will be signs to indicate the area is closed and pedestrians and bicyclists will need to backtrack on the loop.

This project includes replacing the water mains, fire hydrants, water to service buildings and the irrigation supply. The new water system will be installed using both low impact pipe bursting and conventional cut and cover methods.  The low impact pipe bursting method in contrast to the cut and cover method allows for greater preservation of the mature forest at Seward Park. When the water system replacement work is complete in the spring, restoration of all affected and disturbed pavement, sidewalks, paths, surfacing, topsoil, grass, plantings and mulching will take place.

This project replaces the Seward Park domestic water system constructed in the early 1900s. The undersized domestic water and fire protection service lines are in poor condition and require an upgrade. The new water system will maximize efficiency.

For more information please visit http://www.seattle.gov/parks/projects/seward/water_system.htm or contact Karen O’Connor at 206-233-7929 or karen.o’connor@seattle.gov.