How old is the seattle viaduct

Authorities began clearing the roadway around 11 p. With the closure, no longer will we drive our in-laws home from the airport and wave like a boss toward the Olympic Mountain sunset. The viaduct will be replaced by a foot-wide, four-lane tunnel from Sodo to South Lake Union, following three weeks of severe traffic jams, without any Highway 99 to bypass downtown.

State officials aim to open the tunnel early Monday, Feb. The so-called Seattle Squeeze will persist another four years as viaduct demolition, downtown street repaving, convention center expansion and private tower builders encroach on street lanes. Maybe a downtown streetcar and bike lanes will be added, maybe not.

The squeeze unofficially ends in when light-rail trains begin running between Seattle and Bellevue. Seattle Mayor Jenny Durkan says people will gasp when they visit the quieter waterfront. Viaduct traffic generated 80 decibels , similar to a kitchen garbage disposal, alongside Pike Place Market. More cars will congregate near Mercer Street when they leave the north tunnel portal, and thousands of drivers will switch to waterfront Alaskan Way.

It is unclear if and when the project will be completed, and who will pay additional costs. In the meantime, the damaged viaduct structure is still in use. The good news is that regardless of what happens with the stalled tunnel, the City of Seattle is proceeding with the plans for a stunning new civic waterfront, including a 4-lane urban street, parks, water access, habitat improvements, and better connections to downtown neighborhoods.

By the beginning of the summer of , over one-quarter of the future Highway 99 tunnel had been excavated. The path of the tunnel digging machine is continuing toward the Pike Place Market, and it is currently located in Zone 4 of 10 the total zones.

Reaching this zone means that the machine is going past the foundation of the northbound SR 99 off-ramp to Seneca Street. As of July 14 , Bertha has traveled 3, of 9, feet with of 1, total rings built. Connecting the Interstate Freeway via Shoemaker Bridge to Alamitos Avenue on the eastern edge of the Downtown, Shoreline Drive takes many different characters, reflecting its various eras of expansion.

Buffalo is a waterfront city with a deep history along the shores of Lake Erie. With more than half of the city's waterfront left vacant, the potential for revitalization is immense. Alaskan Way Viaduct Seattle, Washington. Alaskan Way Viaduct today cutting off downtown from waterfront. Source: Wikimedia Commons In , the City of Seattle, the State of Washington and the Federal Highway Administration agreed on a cut-and-cover tunnel as the prime replacement option for the viaduct.

Source: Oregon Live In , despite best efforts to promote the surface boulevard option and focus investment on serving local mobility, the State of Washington, along with the City of Seattle and King County, decided to replace the viaduct with a deep-bore underground bypass tunnel.

This was due to the need for a pedestrian bridge that allowed walk-on ferry passengers to access the terminal. On September 5, , the old bridge leading to and from Colman Dock was closed and removed; a new pedestrian bridge opened on September 22, connecting to a new ferry terminal.

This allowed work crews to tear down the final elevated section of the viaduct, with the last columns coming down September Meanwhile, ramp structures remained at the north and south ends of the viaduct. The last ramp sections over the railway lines at the north end stayed in place for another two months. WSDOT attributed delays to limited work windows, between the hours of 11 p.

Saturday and 5 a. Sunday, given the rail lines were in use at all other times during the week. This work-around was one of many challenges the demolition project faced. The final north-end columns came down on November 21, heralding the end of the year-old structure.