Thornton Creek Knickerbocker Site Construction Begins May 2013

The long-proposed and studied plan to increase floodplain storage and habitat quality to the Thornton Creek greenbelt at the “Knickerbocker” site (NE 100th Street, at the base of 20th Ave NE) looks to finally begin construction in May 2013.
Seattle Public Utilities and the Park Department acquired the land between 2001 and 2006, permanently removing several houses that had been located on the south side of 100th.
Residents in the project area, members of the Thornton Creek Watershed Oversight Council, and advocates for Thornton Creek began to work with SPU and Parks on ways to get a floodplain reconnection project designed and built in 2009, as this type of project was identified in the Thornton Creek Watershed Action Plan. Project design was initiated in 2010 using a $100,000 King Conservation District grant to design the floodplain project. SPU led the design work using a consultant and has held about five community meetings to discuss the project and get input.
Sample drilling was performed last month at the site, and funding secured from King Conservation District, an EPA Ecology Grant, and Seattle Public Utilities to finally implement the work starting next year. The plan includes relocating several hundred feet of Thornton Creek, create up to an acre of vegetated floodplain (currently a picnic and dog-walking area), and build a new pedestrian bridge over the widened creek.
It’s also hoped that the wider, slower creek will enable fish to reach and spawn further upstream eventually.
See also: Thornton Creek Alliance Meeting April 26th

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