Alki pump-station project update: More trucks, noise ahead

| Utilities | West Seattle beaches | West Seattle news

For the first time in months, Metro sent out a major update on the year-and-a-half-long 53rd Ave. Pump Station expansion project that’s been under way along Alki since March. Major points: Next week, for a period lasting up to 36 hours (likely Tuesday/Wednesday), a particular phase of the project will require wastewater to be trucked away from the spot instead of channeled through pipes. Crews will work around the clock, but Metro warns people to expect “increased noise, more truck traffic on the road and potentially odor.” Here’s how the “Vactor” trucks will get to and from the site:

Trucks traveling to the West Seattle Pump Station will follow Alki Avenue Southwest to Harbor Avenue Southwest. Trucks traveling to the Alki Stormwater Treatment Plant will follow this route: Alki Avenue Southwest to 63rd Avenue Southwest to Beach Drive Southwest to 64th Avenue Southwest to Southwest Wilton Court.

Then in late July, four to five weeks of “sheet pile driving” will commence, to stabilize the site for excavation, and residents are warned this is likely to bring vibrations as well as more noise. You can read the entire Metro project update here; the project’s main infopage is here.

SA July 11, 2008 (11:24 am)

It is unbelievable that this project is slated for completion in October of 2009! 1.5 years is almost what it takes to rebuild facilities on the scale of the viaduct. They should be working nights and weekend to get this intrusive project complete. 1.5 years is pretty inefficient.

mg July 11, 2008 (2:29 pm)

no kidding! Work was still going at 10pm last night when I finally walked up to their site and asked them to turn off the flashing/rotating lights. They weren’t using these particular trucks, they were parked off the street, they were wasting fuel just letting it run. However the noise from the bull dozers and other equipment and the vibration continued until well after 1am.

Bounce July 14, 2008 (7:50 am)

What’s up with the CONSTANT back-up beeping? Are they doing most of their work in reverse?

We live a ways up the hill from the construction are, yet the truck back-up alarms (past 2A on Thursday night/Friday morning and again before 7A on Monday morning) are enough to disrupt our sleep.

The noise is understandable, but the hours are outrageous. Anyone suggestions on where to file a complaint?

mg July 14, 2008 (9:35 am)

CONSTANT beeping! And the banging! I really hope this ends soon…

mike July 16, 2008 (10:41 pm)

Hate to tell ya WSB, but Metro, the agency once responsible for wastewater treatment, was eliminated last century. The public agency you’re talking about is the King County Department of Natural Resources.