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The City of Mountlake Terrace has scheduled temporary closures for the Lake Ballinger boat launch, beach, restrooms and parking lot in August and September, with the first closure set for Aug. 11-15.
The closures are related to several major improvements underway at Ballinger Park and Lake Ballinger beach, including construction of a new wildlife viewing platform along with multiple connecting pedestrian pathways. These new walking trails are being created for park goers to easily get from the newly improved west entrance at the Interurban Trail to the viewing platform, the pedestrian bridge and the boardwalk. These enhancements will result in better public access to Lake Ballinger and much-improved walkability throughout the centrally-located 55-acre regional park, the city said in a news release.
During construction, the Lake Ballinger boat launch, beach, restrooms, and parking lot will be closed Aug. 11-15 and Sept. 2-5; the area will be open the week of Aug. 16-Sept. 1. Construction of the viewing platform must be completed during the summer months to protect fish in the lake and downstream through Lake Washington.
Work will take place on weekdays only and some of the area will tentatively reopen for the weekends. The public can expect to see a staging area with materials and equipment that will be closed. The viewing platform is slightly west of Hall Creek and there will be some noise expected during work hours.
Closure Timeline
Aug. 11-15: Boat launch, beach, restrooms and parking lot are closed for contractor equipment and material load in.
Aug. 16-Sept. 1: Boat launch, beach, restrooms and parking lot reopens to the public except for staging area.
Sept. 2-5: Boat launch, beach, restrooms and parking lot are closed while the contractor packs up and leaves the site.
Sept. 6: Majority of the beach is back open to the public with completion of the water work.
During the first week of closure, the city’s contractor will move into the area with equipment and materials (see yellow hatched area on the map below.) The construction crew will build a barge and load a crane at the beach area where they will launch from the shore and travel over to the viewing platform location to start their pile driving work. Once that first week is over, the yellow hatched area will reopen for public use.
The small staging area (see red square on the map below) will be closed to the public for the full duration of work, which will be approximately four weeks. This is where the contractor will have their equipment and materials fenced off.
Park access and parking can be found at the Mickey Corso Community Clubhouse (Lake Ballinger Center), which is located just north of the closure area.
You can learn more about this project here.
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