Dear Customer:
Lake Forest Park Water District is doing construction work near your home. A new watermain and valves are being installed on the West shoulder of Ballinger Way between 184th Street and 178th Street.
Background – Why are we doing this project?:
Our District has over 12 miles of pipes that bring water to about 2500 residents. The water is sourced from deep wells and artesian wells in the District’s 12 acre wellhead protection area near 49th Place. N.E. The new water pipe that will be installed on your Street will provide a more reliable water supply and improved fire flow for customers south of 184th Street including the Lake Forest Park Towne Center which will lose a backup connection pipe from Seattle at the end of 2011.
The project title is “Ballinger Way 184th to 178th Watermain Project” and it involves around 1500 feet of 12” ductile iron watermain and connections. The contractor who has been awarded this construction project is B & L Utility of Snohomish, WA. B & L Utility is a very experienced contracting company with an excellent work history installing underground pipes.
When will this all happen?
We anticipate that the Contractor will bring equipment and materials to the site in the next few days. Actual digging work is scheduled to begin in the week of July 13-17.
What Exactly will be happening?
The first step is to bring in equipment and pipe. The next step is to install new 12” ductile iron watermain on the west shoulder (emergency lane) of Ballinger way. The actual work of installing the pipe should only take a week to complete for this street. The contractor will restore surface and road shoulders during the watermain installation. Only a small portion of the street will be exposed at one time. Steel plates will cover exposed areas at night. After installing the pipe we will perform a pressure test and bacteria test then connect it to our water system. Then the contractor will connect each customer along Ballinger Way to the new pipe.
Our Contractor will notify you in advance if your water supply will be interrupted, and that should only be when we switch your service from the old main to the new pipe. In the event of a failure of the old main, the contractor (and our own crews if necessary) will do our very best to restore service as soon as possible. Final restoration including shoulder pavement grind and overlay will be several weeks after this when other work is complete.
What about traffic? – Will there be delays, how will I get to my house?
Ballinger Way (SR104) has heavy traffic periods, especially in the morning and then in the afternoon. The contractor will have flaggers on site and there will be some delays especially in the late evenings when lower traffic activity will allow work. The contractor will make arrangements with you for access to your house. Note that only a short portion of the pipe trench will be open at any one time.
We will be doing our best to minimize any inconvenience for you and we invite you to call with questions or concerns. Our office number is 206-365-3211. My cell number is 425-275-2262 and that number is active 24 hours. I will also be at the work site frequently and you can feel free to ask any question concerning our work.
Sincerely,
F. Alan Kerley
cc. Dan Mundall, P.E., Mundall Engineering (360) 319-1285