Viaduct removal began last Friday

Viaduct 2-19-19 from the Pike Place Market
Photo by Steven H. Robinson

Viaduct removal began on schedule on Friday, February 15, 2019 and will take about six months.

WSDOT (Washington State Department of Transportation) is removing the Alaskan Way Viaduct from Seattle's central waterfront to make way for the City of Seattle's Waterfront Seattle Program.

This project will help transform Seattle’s waterfront while removing a vulnerable structure from our road network.

The Alaskan Way Viaduct was built in the 1950s and was damaged in the 2001 Nisqually Earthquake.

While it was strengthened and safe for daily use, the structure is seismically vulnerable. The viaduct’s role in moving people into and through downtown Seattle will be replaced by the new SR 99 tunnel and a new Alaskan Way surface street built once the viaduct is gone.

The major elements of this project are:

• Shifting Alaskan Way to the west of the viaduct (completed in October 2018).
• Removing the Alaskan Way Viaduct from South Dearborn Street to the Battery Street Tunnel.
• Removing the Columbia and Seneca street ramps.
• Building a new, temporary pedestrian bridge across Alaskan Way to Colman Dock.
• Restoring the area where the viaduct once stood and then turning the space over to the City of Seattle's Waterfront Seattle Program.