A multimillion-dollar restoration project of Thornton Creek in North Seattle is finally taking shape, and KIRO 7 got an exclusive tour of all the changes.
SEATTLE — People living next to the creek near 35th Avenue have dealt with flooding for decades during heavy rains, and salmon had found the concrete culvert inhospitable.
The project not only will expand the water capacity, but it’s being built to restore a natural salmon habitat.
"The capacity through this area will be utilized by the new floodplain that we're creating," said project manager Jason Sharpley with Seattle Public Utilities.
The old channel was only 6 feet wide, and that would result in flooding over the 35th Avenue bridge, while inundating nearby homes and Nathan Hale High School.
The new project is 32 feet wide, over five times as large over the old one.
“In years past, we put up brick walls just to keep our land from eroding,” said Jensen Chase, whose family has lived along the creek for at least 30 years.
The project restoring the creek costs $7 million and should be done by September, says Seattle Public Utilities. The 35th Avenue bridge should be open by November.
“You don't get the chance to do a creek restoration project like this in an urban area,” said Sharpley, as he walked a KIRO 7 crew through all the updates.
Included in the project are natural pools and hiding spots for salmon to return to the creek.
Perfectly engineered timber degree and gravel are also a part of the project.
“Our engineer on this has designed where every log goes, what size log goes in, where root wads are at,” says Sharpley.
The creek is home to at least four species of endangered salmon, he said.
But overall, neighbors are happy to see something is being done about the flood problem.
“We're really hoping that this huge floodplain will really helping out with the flooding,” said Chase.
KIRO
