King County installs temporary surface sewer line near Luther Burbank Park

King County Wastewater Treatment Division contractors yesterday completed a project to install a temporary sewer line near Luther Burbank Park on Mercer Island.

Crews began the emergency project after a 40-year-old sewer line was damaged by high flows and power surges during the Dec. 14 storm.
The temporary 1,800-foot-long, 18-inch-diameter surface pipe will carry wastewater from North Mercer Pump Station to a manhole south of Luther Burbank Park where it will be discharged back into the system and go to the South Treatment Plant in Renton.

Because large segments of the temporary pipe are above ground, neighbors and park users should be careful of the pipe and avoid tripping on it, stepping on it or disturbing it.

With the temporary line in place, county staff can keep the system operating normally as they develop long term plans to repair or replace the damaged sewer line. Construction is scheduled to begin in late January and is expected to last for about two months.

To protect public health and safety, 84th Avenue Southeast will remain closed between Southeast 26th Street and Southeast 24th Street for the project’s duration. Road access will be only available for nearby residents and emergency vehicles.

Metro buses and Mercer Island School District buses serving the area are on detour routes. Additional details are available by contacting the Mercer Island School District at 206-236-3338 or by visiting Metro Online at http://transit.metrokc.gov . 

During construction, Luther Burbank Park will be open to the public and accessible from the parking lot on North Mercer Way, but the parking area at the bottom of Southeast 26th Street will be closed because contractors will need it as a staging area.

The Community Center at Mercer View will remain open, although access to the parking lot will be restricted to the entrance lane, which is normally designed for two-way traffic. Drivers should proceed cautiously through this area and watch for oncoming traffic.

For more information about the Mercer Island Interceptor Emergency Repair Project, visit the Web site at http://dnr.metrokc.gov/wtd/projects/mercer-island/interceptor.htm  or call 206- 263-7301, or 711 TTY.

People enjoy clean water and a healthy environment because of King County's wastewater treatment program. The county’s Wastewater Treatment Division protects public health and water quality by serving 17 cities, 17 local sewer utilities and more than 1.4 million residents in King, Snohomish and Pierce counties. Formerly called Metro, the regional clean-water agency now operated by King County has been preventing water pollution for more than 40 years.