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North Transfer Station Project (NTS)

What's New with the Project

Seattle Public Utilities (SPU) is continuing to make progress on the North Transfer Station (NTS) project. Following collaboration with the surrounding neighborhood and community groups (such as the Wallingford Community Council and the Fremont Neighborhood Council), SPU decided  to change the contracting approach from a Design/Build  method to a  General Contractor/Construction Manager method. 

To find out more about this change and what it means for the project, please see the Project Update Memo (pdf) and Community Commitment Crosswalk Table (pdf).

What’s Happening

Seattle Public Utilities plans to completely rebuild the current North Transfer Station at 1350 N. 34th St., Seattle, Washington. This renovation is necessary to ensure the station meets the growing recycling needs of the city.  

SPU’s interest is in developing a functional and cost-effective transfer station that addresses community concerns about present and future operations. The schedule of the project is phased with the construction of a new South Transfer Station to ensure continuous solid waste services to the City of Seattle.

Final Green Group Meeting Held

At the final Green Group Workshop on Nov. 14, group members recommended a final design concept, known as "Twine with a Twist" as well as several overarching principles for the new North Transfer Station's open space.

At the workshop, SPU presented the group with the feedback heard from members of the community at last month's Open Space Planning Community Meeting, and made the final recommendation of a hybrid concept, "Twine with a Twist", derived from public preference and a result of the Green Group's collaborative work with SPU.

The overarching principles that the group agreed upon included adding additional natural play elements to the Carr Place North park, preserving view corridors, retaining street trees throughout the site as possible, developing a site with crime prevention in mind, reach environmental engineering and planning goals, adding pedestrian safety elements, and creating a green roof that compliments the design of the green space.

Agenda (pdf)
Concept (pdf)
Section views (pdf)
Example photos (pdf)
Summary (pdf)

Community Meeting (October 26, 2011)

More than 20 people attended an Open Space Planning Meeting on Oct. 26 to discuss the open space design concepts for the future North Transfer Station. SPU and the project landscape architects gave a brief overview of the open space design process and highlighted the major elements of two site concepts. The public was invited to provide their input on each concept. The next step will be for the Green Group to review the community input and work with SPU to develop a single concept to carry forward into design.

Presentation (pdf)
Concepts (pdf)
Summary (pdf)

Meeting 2 Materials (October 3, 2011)

At the second Green Group meeting, the group reviewed concepts based on input from the first workshop last month, and discussed the pros and cons of each. After an in-depth discussion of each green space concept and their elements, the group preferred active spaces such as children’s playgrounds and sport courts as well as integrating activities and uses of space throughout the site. The group also recommended developing a community space near the corner of N 34th Street and Woodlawn Avenue N.

Agenda (pdf)
Concepts (pdf)
Comparison Matrix (pdf)
Summary (pdf)

Meeting 1 Materials

Meeting 1 Summary (pdf)
Green Group – September 8, 2011 Agenda (pdf)

Stakeholder Group

Seattle Public Utilities’ (SPU) North Transfer Station Stakeholder Group met on June 29 to finalize their recommendation report, which summarized more than three years and 13 meetings of discussions, and detailed the stakeholders’ recommendations to SPU regarding replacement of the North Transfer Station. These recommendations will be incorporated into the process to design and construct the new station. View the full Stakeholder Group Recommendation Report (pdf).

Concept C Site Plan (pdf)

Compendium - All documents are in (PDF) format.

This is an exciting step forward for the project. SPU Director Ray Hoffman announced that SPU has accepted the Stakeholder Group’s recommendations on the station configuration and community amenities, and will proceed to implement them. View the full text of Director Hoffman’s announcement (pdf).

SPU will continue to work closely with community councils and the local neighbors to further define the parameters of the recommended concept, specifically the park and green space. More information on this process will be posted here when available.