Skyway Park Project

FAQ:

What is going on with the restrooms at Skyway Park?

The existing restrooms at Skyway have been closed due to safety issues. Though there are portable restroom facilities available, based on feedback from community members at the December 2021 public meeting, the Parks team worked to move the original construction timeline for installing new Portland Loos from 2024 to 2023. Given the success of this type of restroom at other parks where restrooms can become unsafe at night, such as Steve Cox Memorial Park, the Portland Loos were selected as the best option for Skyway Park to avoid safety concerns around restrooms that have long been commented upon by park visitors and community members.

A few factors contribute to 2023 being the earliest the Portland Loos could be installed:

• The lead time for the correct waiver required to install the Portland Loos is 6 months
• Order lead times for the Portland Loos is 8+ months
• Portland Loos require water, sewer, and electrical utility connections, which don’t currently exist in the north end of the park. The Parks team is currently working with Seattle City Light to coordinate the addition of electricity to prepare the park for a successful installation

Is there anything happening with the drainage issues in the south field?

The landscape of Skyway Park is extremely challenging due to it being composed of 3 wetlands and a filled pond and stream. This means the groundwater table is exceptionally high, which creates the drainage issues. In addition to the challenging hydrology, when King County Parks evaluated several potential solutions for either installing additional drainage options (French drains, etc.), or converting this area into a synthetic field, both options were unfortunately found unfeasible due to:

• Development restrictions due to protections on existing stream and wetland buffers
• Strict stormwater management requirements due to high groundwater table
• No space to add additional parking that would be required by code
• Code that considers installation of drainage changing a field from a pervious to an impervious surface
• Because of the landscape complexities and restrictions on development, there are currently no plans for the south field.

Is there a plan for additional lighting at Skyway Park?

13 solar lights will be added along the existing and new pathways at Skyway.

Parks also has just received a grant to fund a new project to add solar lighting in several parks. We’re in the process of identifying which parks, and priority is being given to south King County parks, one of which is Skyway Park. If Skyway Park is selected, additional lighting is projected to be installed in mid- to late- 2023.

How has public feedback been incorporated into this project?

The project team started meeting with the community beginning in 2015. Proposed upgrades to Skyway Park were drawn from comments from the community. King County Parks staff worked with community organizations to gather feedback about this project and to solicit additional community feedback, including:

• CSA meeting in 2015
• Community park tour in 2017
• Coordination with Skyway Solutions throughout 2017
• Meetings with West Hill Community Association in 2017 and 2019
• Meeting with Skyway Coalition in November 2021
• Public meeting in December 2021
• Ongoing involvement of the West Hill Community Association and the Skyway Coalition