Waterway 1 Landscaping Funds Approved

 Waterway Number 1 in Laurelhurst



The third phase of  the Enhancement Project through the City’s Neighborhood Park and Street Fund for Waterway 1, located at 43rd Avenue NE and NE 34th Street, was recently approved.

The Laurelhurst Community Club posted this information in their most recent newsletter:

In a highly competitive process, the Northeast District Council approved $20,000 to fund the third phase of LCC’s Waterway No. 1 Enhancement Project through the City’s Neighborhood Park and Street Fund. The Bicycle Master Plan will contribute an additional $5,000 for the project.   

This phase will replace weeds and bare space with attractive, low-maintenance, native and appropriate non-native landscaping. The project also includes design of an ADA pathway. Labor largely will be volunteered by neighbors. Michael C. Lee, landscape architect and owner of Colvos Creek Nursery, prepared the approved landscape plan. He will assist in implementation of the plan that addresses the safety and access needs of visitors, soil erosion concerns, and incorporates vegetation that both helps wildlife and beautifies the site.

The first phase of the Enhancement Project was installation of several large, granite slip-resistant rocks on the water’s edge to improve safety in launching non-motorized boats. The second phase was replacement of the 80-year-old basketball court. Noxious weed removal is ongoing. 

Waterway No. 1 is owned by the State Department of Natural Resources (DNR), which has entered into a management agreement with the Seattle Parks and Recreation Department. This arrangement follows a seven-year “Right of Entry Agreement” between DNR and LCC in which LCC assumed restoration, maintenance, and enhancement of the site. The Parks Department fully supports Phase 3 of the Waterway No. 1 Enhancement Project.

In May of this year, LCC recently was pleased to announce that they have entered into an agreement with Seattle Parks and Recreation to maintain the site, similar to the agreement with DNR, in which the City will work with the neighborhood on continuing to maintain the Waterway, including plant maintenance, shoreline clean-up activities, and rebuilding the existing basketball court.