Quote:
Originally Posted by SpongeG
this is 5 hours coverage of the Seattle Tunnel celebrations. The tunnel opens to cars on monday.
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This is a pretty big deal in Seattle's history.
Much of the city funnels through a corridor less than a half mile wide from I-5 on the east (hugging First Hill) to the waterfront. Even as a militant alt-transportation advocate I wanted this tunnel because unlike Portland, Vancouver, and San Francisco our downtown isn't isolated or a dead end, but is the heart of the funnel. While transit is also being added at a high rate, the "no freeway" alternative added a lot of pass-through traffic on Downtown avenues. The tunnel isn't for anyone heading TO downtown, only through it...it's nearly two miles with no exits. (They wouldn't have even been possible really...the tunnel is extremely deep to get under other tunnels and buildings.)
Downtown succeeds because of tunnels: The mined heavy-rail tunnel (with freight, Amtrak, and commuter rail) built a century ago, the transit tunnel built in the late 80s (next month the buses leave and it'll be all light rail), and even I-5 itself which is lidded in a couple sections. The new tunnel replaces a six-block segment of old tunnel for Highway 99 in addition to the viaduct on the waterfront. In the next decade we'll start another transit tunnel for more light rail lines.
I've heard that 100,000 signed up to walk through the new tunnel, the old tunnel, and/or the viaduct via free tickets. Some are mourning the viaduct, which despite being rickety and ugly was also loved for its views (including by drivers, go figure) and for being a fast driving route.
Now we have additional years of construction to get rid of the viaduct and rebuild Alaskan Way along the waterfront. We also need to build a major new street where the viaduct climbed the hill, up to Western and Elliott Avenues. That's a big part of the street connections to replace the local-access aspect of the viaduct. Actually not just local but for any car heading to the northwest sections of town.
I'm also celebrating because a decade ago it looked like we might end up with a rebuilt viaduct, which would have had to be taller and wider than the current one just due to safety.