PSE Newsroom
PSE to close Snoqualmie Falls Park this autumn for eight weeks to perform major enhancement work
BELLEVUE, Wash. (Sept. 1, 2009) – Puget Sound Energy will close Snoqualmie Falls Park, beginning Tuesday, Sept. 8, for approximately eight weeks to perform major landscaping improvements at the popular tourist site overlooking Snoqualmie Falls.
During the closure – required to ensure the public’s safety – construction crews will remove sidewalks, re-contour some of the park’s grounds, install new concrete walkways and commons areas, and perform other “hardscape” work.
Once this initial construction work is completed and the utility’s two-acre public park re-opens about Nov. 1, PSE contractors will begin a series of additional park-enhancement projects, such as building new fencing along the park’s cliffside rim and falls-viewing platforms, erecting new lighting, and installing educational and interpretive signage. All park improvements are expected to be complete by April 2010.
During most of the two-month park closure, a fenced walkway will maintain public access to the park’s main observation platform for viewing the falls. For limited periods, however, the platform also may be closed, during which visitors will be directed to the viewing platform at the end of PSE’s riverfront trail. The trail, located next to PSE’s Plant 2 Powerhouse below the park, can be reached by driving about a mile past the park on SR 202 (toward Fall City), turning left on 372nd Avenue Southeast, then left again on Southeast Fish Hatchery Road.
PSE’s enhancements to the park are part of a major, five-year redevelopment of the utility’s Snoqualmie Falls Hydroelectric Project, including upgrading the 111-year-old facility’s two power plants with new generator turbines, penstocks, and water-intake systems. PSE also will be renovating the project’s historic Train Depot and Carpenter Shop, upstream from Snoqualmie Falls, to showcase historical artifacts and photos of the power-generating facility.
More information on PSE’s Snoqualmie Falls Hydroelectric Project and the upcoming redevelopment work can be found at PSE.com.
About Puget Sound Energy
Washington state’s oldest local energy utility, Puget Sound Energy serves more than 1 million electric customers and nearly 750,000 natural gas customers in 11 counties. A subsidiary of Puget Energy, PSE meets the energy needs of its growing customer base through incremental, cost-effective energy conservation, procurement of sustainable energy resources, and far-sighted investment in the energy-delivery infrastructure. PSE employees are dedicated to providing great customer service and delivering energy that is safe, reliable, reasonably priced, and environmentally responsible.
Contact information:
Roger Thompson, 1-888-831-7250