South Park Drainage and Roadway Partnership

South Park Drainage and Roadway Partnership project area

Project description

Improving chronic flooding and drainage issues in South Park
Seattle Public Utilities (SPU) and the Seattle Department of Transportation (SDOT) are working together on the South Park Drainage and Roadway Partnership project to construct streets and a drainage system to improve chronic flooding and drainage issues. As part of the new drainage system, inlets and pipes will capture stormwater (rainfall runoff) and direct flows to the future pump station during hightide.

Location

South Park Industrial Area between 2nd Ave S and 8th Ave S, and S Holden St and S Monroe St.

What's happening now?

The project is in construction and will be completed by 2023.

Community benefits

Many of the streets in this area are in poor condition, which adversely affects water quality and impacts freight mobility. Rebuilding the roadways is an important part of this project for both SPU and SDOT, since it will allow streets to drain effectively into the new stormwater conveyance system. SPU and SDOT are partnering to reduce construction impacts on the community.

When complete, this project will work in tandem with the flood control pump station to reduce flooding in the industrial and residential areas in the northern part of South Park. The pipe improvements will collect and convey flows to the existing drainage system and lessen overall flooding. The drainage system will direct stormwater to the flood control pump station, which will pump stormwater to the Lower Duwamish Waterway, and to the future water quality facility.

Community engagement

In 2017, SPU gathered feedback from lower industrial basin businesses and residents on how they use the right-of-way and experience drainage and flooding issues. Based on community input and technical feasibility, the project team is moving forward with a design that features sidewalks, curbs and gutters with frequent inlets to drain the roadway. Specific features will vary between arterial and non-arterial streets.
 
In 2019, we met one-on-one throughout the design process with impacted industrial businesses and property owners to gather feedback on business and access needs to inform project design.
 
SPU is committed to providing timely information and updates on project activities. Updates may be available in multiple formats: the website, emails, and one-on-one briefings. Sign up for South Park project updates.