Transfer Station Playground Is Getting a Redo

I passed by the transfer station one dark night several days ago, and was surprised to see the playground fenced off and under construction. Most of the walking paths were dug up, and some of the landscaping seemed to have been removed – among other things. The playground and the station itself were completed back in late 2016 as we wrote about here, so why so much work so soon?

A sign on the fence briefly described some of the work:

• Reducing sidewalk slope in some areas
• Changing pavement to standard concrete
• Adding hand rails

The sign also provided links to additional information. In short, the original work was deficient, and needs to be redone. Quoting from the PDF that’s linked to Seattle Public Utility’s website:

“Contractors for Seattle Public Utilities will be working on reducing sidewalk sloping at the Carr Place and Woodlawn Open Spaces to address Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) requirements. Pavement at the basketball court will be changed to standard concrete. There will also be new handrails installed along some of the walkways, improving access for all users. Work is expected to start on Monday, October 8 and continue through December. We will try to open up individual areas (like the playground) as soon as they are fully completed.”

I asked Hui Yang, SPU’s contact person on the project how this apparent mistake was made in the original work, and who is paying for the redo. My reply came from Elaine Yeung:

Thank you for your email. The railings and ADA compliance work were part of the original development of the project, which was planned and delivered by Seattle Public Utilities. The current work is the result of errors by the contractor and design consultant. SPU has been and continue to work through these issues with the contractor and design consultant using our contractual protections, including direct cost recovery.

We appreciate your concerns and thank you for reaching out to us.

So it seems we can thank SPU for holding the contractor’s feet to the fire on this one. And as a bonus, the remedial work is getting done during the wettest time of the year when your little one is least likely to be begging for some time on the slide.