Closure at popular Pierce County park will last two weeks for maintenance work
Sections of Swan Creek Park will be closed for two business weeks later this month for a gravel removal procedure at the park’s sediment pond.
From 6 a.m. to 5 p.m. on the weekdays between June 8-19, the northeast side of the park will be closed, including the sediment pond located near a parking lot by the Pioneer Way East and Waller Road East intersection. That parking lot has been closed since March to “protect and support ongoing plant restoration efforts” according to an email from Pierce County spokesperson Andriana Fletcher. It is currently only available for use by permit.
Additionally, the trail leading out of the parking lot at East 42nd Street and East Roosevelt Avenue will be closed beyond the pedestrian bridge. The park will reopen during regular park hours on weeknights and over the weekend. These closures will allow for Pierce County crews to remove gravel from the sediment pond, according to a Pierce County news release June 1.
During high water events, which Pierce County spokesperson Anne Radford describes as when “river and creek levels rise above their normal flow due to significant rainstorms,” water picks up sediment from the creek bed, leading to buildup and potential road flooding on Pioneer Way East. The sediment pond was built in 1991 to remedy the flooding.
Gravel removal occurs at the pond once every one to three years. Radford noted that flooding events in December increased the sediment in the pond, resulting in a need to complete the maintenance a year earlier than anticipated. Pierce County last conducted gravel removal in June 2024. The collected gravel will be stockpiled for future pond maintenance work across the county.
Radford shared over email that the pond maintenance will cost around $60,000 and is funded with Surface Water Management Funds as part of the county’s maintenance budget.
The maintenance follows a broader effort to restore the creek from a “state of imbalance,” according to the county’s website. According to an email from county spokesperson Amanda Smith, increased rainfall runoff caused this imbalance and lessened the channel’s ability to endure erosion. Channel erosion and sediment deposits, in part caused by historical land use changes from past logging practice, increased rainfall, and impervious surfaces due to development, have all contributed to loss of habitat for fish in the creek, specifically salmon, Smith wrote.
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Last year, the county closed the Pioneer Way entrance and parking lot from July to October. That allowed for the installation of approximately 70 log jams as well as reforesting efforts, such as adding native plants. Smith told The News Tribune that the county plans to add around 30 more log structures this summer and fall. To do that restoration work, the county plans more closures at the park later this summer upstream and to the west within park areas administered by Parks Tacoma, though specific dates have yet to be released.
