Fauntleroy Creek Culvert Replacement

Three culverts convey Fauntleroy Creek flow from headwaters in Fauntleroy Park to Fauntleroy Cove in central Puget Sound. The city replaced the culvert under Fauntleroy Way SW in 1998 and it is not part of this project.

One of the remaining two culverts is under 45th Avenue SW and is solely owned by the City of Seattle. The other is under California Avenue SW and the Fauntleroy Church parking lot. The city owns the portion of this culvert under the street, plus about one third of the culvert under the parking lot; the church owns the rest.

Seattle Public Utilities has assessed these two culverts as being in need of replacement. Both are nearing the end of their useful life and both are barriers to coho salmon spawners’ being able to reach habitat in the upper creek. In 2017, SPU began planning replacements that would reduce the risk of culvert failure, mitigate storm-related flooding, and restore spawner passage.

SPU’s project team has been working closely with Fauntleroy Church throughout the planning process and periodically updates the FCA Board and the Fauntleroy Watershed Council. The team has employed open-house and information-table formats to engage the wider community and keeps residents regularly informed through articles in FCA’s quarterly Neighbors newsletter.

Early Work Underway on Fauntleroy Creek Culvert Replacement at 45th Ave SW

date posted: 28 Jun 2026

Seattle Public Utilities has begun the first phase of a long-planned culvert project in West Seattle — utility relocation along 45th Avenue Southwest, with the major road work still ahead in 2027.

For roughly the past week and a half, crews have been on site at 45th Ave SW near SW Wildwood Place as Seattle Public Utilities (SPU) moves into construction on the Fauntleroy Creek Culverts Replacement Program. The work marks the start of a multi-year effort to replace aging creek culverts that carry Fauntleroy Creek beneath neighborhood streets — structures the city says pose both a public-safety risk and a barrier to salmon trying to reach upstream habitat.

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Emergency Culvert Work

date posted: 30 Aug 2025

Seattle Public Utilities has determined that some emergency work need sto be completed on the Fauntleroy Creek culvert running beneath the church parking lot, before the scheduled project can begin. This will help keep the culvert in proper repair until the permanent replacement project can begin.

Details here: UTILITY WORK ALERT: Date set for expected start of Fauntleroy culvert repairs.

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