New Water Main crosses the Highway

From the Fire Station to Harbor Mercantile

The week of October 5th was monumental for the 2026 Capital Improvement Project, during which our contractors’ excavated the path for the new 8″ water main across The Highway along the South Side of Burton Drive . To date, this was the most visible and impactful portion of the construction efforts. Coming on the heels of the Judd Creek Bridge Closure, The Burton Water Cooperative Board, Staff, and our contracted crews felt it was utterly critical to impact traffic as minimally as possible, and try to avoid prolonged closure of the highway. The crossing was made in a single day, and traffic could flow in some way through the work zone almost continually. 

Crews work quickly to keep the highway open

Guys with signs

Due to the District 19 water construction along the highway last year, the Water Distribution community became acutely aware of how impactful our work can be on traffic. Where nobody likes to sit in their car on the way to the ferry, it is important to recognize how dedicated Pape and Sons has been to keep traffic moving throughout the construction. At all times traffic is altered into a “one lane – two way” traffic diversion. And, it’s the flaggers who keep our working crews safe, and actually move traffic through the work zone as rapidly as possible. We all owe them a debt of gratitude, because Flagging is a lot of hours spent standing, in all weather, doing a necessary, but somewhat tedious job. 

Construction Management and Supervision

During all construction activity either Nick Simmons or Morgan Berry (part of our Operations crew) are required to be on site to observe, coordinate, and problem solve. Our engineers, Northwest Water Systems, will be on call at all times and on site as needed.

Traffic Management

Our contractor, Pape and Sons, will have flaggers at construction sites to direct traffic. Please assist by traveling slowly and following their direction. Some of our scope of work will overlap with the King County Judd Creek bridge closure, so please adjust your travel times accordingly.

Service Disruption

Every attempt will be made to minimize service disruptions. However, there is no way to do this work and have none. For planned disruptions, the Co-op will give 24 hours notice by email. Please make sure we have a current email address for whoever in your household you want to be the contact person. For unexpected disruptions, the Co-op will send an email communication as soon as practical. When possible, a Co-op representative will go to the impacted properties. 

Emergency or Routine Contact Information

For general information about construction or for a non-urgent question, please contact the Co-op at info@burtonwater.org or 206-463-0005.

For an emergency or urgent matter, please contact our on-call personnel at 206-775-5667. 

This short term inconvenience will provide long term operational security for our entire community. Thank you in advance for your understanding and cooperation during this critical investment in our water system infrastructure. Background information regarding this USDA-funded distribution pipe improvement project can be found on the Capital Improvement Plans page.