Lake City Floodplain Park
Project description
We're reconnecting part of Thornton creek to its floodplain. This will improve water quality and riparian habitat, manage on-site stormwater, and create an accessible greenspace. Seattle Public Utilities (SPU) is partnering with Seattle Parks and Recreation (SPR) and the non-profit Mid Sound Fisheries Enhancement Group (MSFEG) on the project.
Location
Located in the Lake City community, west of Lake City Way NE on NE 125th Street between 22nd Ave NE and 25th Ave NE.
What's happening now?
The site’s existing buildings will be removed this summer.
Seattle's Parks and Recreation Department is looking for ideas for on-site activities focused on restoration, education and community engagement. For more details, see the Seattle Parks and Recreation website and/or contact Jon Pagan (Jonathan.pagan@seattle.gov).
Community benefits
This will reduce flooding and be the neighborhood's only location where you can be near Thornton Creek in a public greenspace.
What options are we looking at?
We are looking at how we can widen and move the creek channel, and provide paths and viewing areas.
Community engagement
To date, we've been in touch with local community and environmental organizations and held a well-attended online workshop in March 2022.
We’re especially interested in engaging with neighbors who are new to public greenspace development.
We plan to host a second online workshop in Summer 2022. To learn how to contribute your ideas, please visit the Lake City Floodplain Park website. We look forward to hearing from you!
Past work
- Acquired the site
- Built a partnership between SPU, SPR and Mid Sound Fisheries Enhancement Group
- Began scientific studies to better understand site geology and ecology
- Met with adjacent neighbors
2022
- Engage Lake City community to learn what they would like to see in their new public greenspace
- Begin creating possible designs for the site
- Hold conversations with Lake City community about possible designs
2023
- Estimate the costs to design and construct each idea
- Choose one of the ideas for our engineers to design
Full design is expected to be ready in late 2024, and ready to construct in 2025.
Thornton Creek is one of Seattle's urban creeks. SPU manages stormwater throughout the City including water that enters our urban creeks. We're working to improve water quality and reduce flooding in ways that benefit our neighborhoods.
Other SPU projects that support Thornton Creek include:
If you're interested in backyard creek stewardship visit our webpage.