Seattle Public Utilities announced last week that the Ballard Natural Drainage System project team has finished designing several blocks of roadside rain gardens in the Loyal Heights neighborhood.

The work in Loyal Heights is part of the City’s larger Ballard Natural Drainage System project, which once completed will annually collect more than 1 million gallons of untreated sewage and stormwater before it enters the ship canal and Salmon Bay.

The problem arises from Ballard’s Combined Overflow Sewage system, which is overwhelmed during heavy rains. On those occasions 10 percent of the water entering Salmon Bay is raw sewage.

In 2013, Ballard accounted for over one-third of the entire City’s overflows. That year Ballard overflowed 58 times, totaling 14.9 million gallons.

SPU reported the design process included engaging with residents, specifying rain garden locations, addressing technical and budget details and coordinating with Seattle Department of Transportation to determine tree placement so as not to conflict with right-of-ways.

The City will begin to accept project bids this summer with plans to initiate a Notice-to-Proceed for construction work in October 2015.

Residents near the area can expect gas line relocation work later this year and major rain garden construction in the spring of 2016.

Find out more about the project at http://www.seattle.gov/util/EnvironmentConservation/Projects/BallardNat…