Seawall construction keeping Seattle residents up late
Apr 17, 2015, 4:05 PM | Updated: Apr 18, 2015, 1:46 pm
People living near Seattle's seawall construction say it's difficult to live near all the noise. (Photo courtesy of Seattle Department of Transportation)
(Photo courtesy of Seattle Department of Transportation)
At the edge of Seattle’s waterfront, the Seattle Department of Transportation is making progress on the middle section of the new seawall. But the progress comes at a cost.
Residents who live near the construction on the Elliott Bay waterfront are having a difficult time coming to terms with the constant noise.
Roberto Mendes, who lives on the 16th floor of the Harbor Steps Apartments, has struggled with the noise every week night for two months.
“At night there’s a vibration and drilling,” Mendes said. “As far as I’m concerned, the drilling is what keeps me up.”
Construction on the seawall is constant through the week. City Project Manager Jessica Murphy said work is about 50 percent complete.
“We’re right in the thick of it,” she said.
The city has provided white noise machines to help the people living nearby. It also setup a 24-hour hotline for noise complaints.
Though it’s a nice gesture, the machine doesn’t help much, Mendes said.
“The only way to get this to stop is to not operate at night,” he said.
Under normal regulations, the city does not operate machinery after 10 p.m. However, an exception was made for the seawall project.
SDOT says it restricts the noisiest construction to the daytime hours.
Seattle’s waterfront businesses, some which have been closed, are on track to reopen July 1.
Bob Donegan, president of Ivar’s is looking forward to reopening Ivar’s Acres of Clams. He said the restaurant can expect one of the best summers it has had on the waterfront since the recession began.
Back in 2012, Dongean and other businesses sought to block the project, after finding red flags in the environmental impact study. Those flags included noise above 100 decibels and heavy vibration.
While businesses are preparing to reopen, however, residents will still have to live with noise for a time. Work on the seawall will continue south of that, near Colman Dock during the summer. The project is expected to be completed June of 2016.
Mendes and his neighbors hope the noise issue is solved soon.
“I want them to be done quickly, because I can’t take this anymore and I want to sleep,” he said.
That new structure is expected to last for about 75 years.
