New art and upcoming road closures along Ship Canal Water Quality project

The latest round of temporary public art has been installed along the Ship Canal Water Quality project.

The art project is known as FLOW: Art Along the Ship Canal, and is a program that features temporary and permanent art installations that tell a visual story of the water and its relationship to the community.

At the Ballard site, artist Toka Valu has created a piece titled “Kumi Hala” by Toka Valu is displayed at the Ballard shaft site.

In Toka Valu’s Kumi Hala, the shark greets salmon precisely where the salt (Salish Sea) meets the great blue slate (Pacific Ocean). Both are guided by ancestral wisdom planted long before either of them existed. It is why they both know and love the water deeply. 

Along Wallingford’s site, local seniors have written memories in a piece by artist Clare Johnson titled “And Depths I Cannot See.”

Inspired by memories from local seniors and self-identified community elders, Clare Johnson’s installation visualizes their personal experiences of water. Community elders responded to a variety of questions about early memories of water—from their relationship to Pacific Northwest waters to the ways water connects to their identities or perspectives. 

Using direct quotes from the participants, the art explores their answers in more open-ended ways. Some pay homage to real places and things from individual memories, while others also imagine scenery that symbolize their perspectives.  

“Between the quotes and countless layers of detail in the drawings, every community member who responded is included in the installation in some way—with each banner interweaving aspects of many different people’s experiences,” shares Johnson.

East Ballard road closures

Lane closure on 11th Ave NW

The tunnel boring machine MudHoney continues moving forward and is expected to reach East Ballard in the next month or so, according to Seattle Public Utilities.

SPU says that during regular tunneling activities, you should anticipate:

  • Truck deliveries of concrete segments and MudHoney equipment
  • Nighttime segment deliveries and tunnel spoils being hauled off
  • Noise and vibrations typical of a construction site

In East Ballard, crews are building the diversion structure on 11th Ave NW that will eventually connect to the storage tunnel. SPU says construction of this vault takes up most of 11th Ave NW just south of NW 45th St, requiring the road to be reduced to a single, narrow lane.

You should anticipate:

  • One-lane closure on 11th Ave NW through November 2022. This allows for work to occur in the eastern area of 11th Ave NW, near NW 45th St. Flaggers will direct northbound and southbound traffic as well as bicyclists during daytime working hours, and traffic signals will direct traffic during non-working hours. Directional signage is also in place.
  • Heavy equipment in the area
  • NW 45th St remains closed to traffic between 11th Ave NW and 9th Ave NW; vehicles must detour onto NW 46th St
  • Burke-Gilman Trail users remain detoured to the north side of NW 45th St
  • Flaggers will help direct traffic during daytime working hours. Please follow all detour guidance on site. For safety, bicyclists should either dismount or cross train tracks at a 90-degree angle. Please use extra caution in wet weather as ramps may be slippery.
  • Noise and vibrations typical of a construction site

Regular work hours will be Monday through Friday, from 7 am to 5 pm. Night and weekend work may occur.