Is it true that they may permanently close the Alaskan Way Viaduct?

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Story Published: Jul 17, 2008 at 9:38 AM PST

Story Updated: Nov 20, 2008 at 10:18 PM PST

By Jenni Hogan

Yes, this could happen.

 

On Thursday, June 26, 2008, the advisory board for the Alaskan Way Viaduct met to discuss the possibilities for the future of the Viaduct.

Here are some of the important items they discussed:

The committee stated that the Alaskan Way Viaduct must be dealt with soon. Since being damaged in the 2001 Nisqually quake, it is a major safety concern for motorists. Governor Christine Gregoire has stated that the viaduct will be coming down in 2012 with or without a re-building strategy.

You may be shocked to know just how many people use the viaduct - there are a lot! WSDOT statistics show that 110,000 vehicles drive across the floating bridge everyday! To give you a comparison, 115,000 use the 520 bridge on a daily basis.

Get ready for a big closure. Most of the proposals the advisory board discussed on Tuesday had a construction time line that would close the viaduct for up to eight years. While some prefer a rebuild, others, such as former senator Slade Gordon and former governor Gary Locke, have said Seattle would be better off without it. One of the benefits of removing the viaduct would be opening up downtown Seattle to the water. City officials plan to reach a central waterfront solution by the end of this year.

Cost wasn’t a big topic of discussion. None of the current options have estimated or confirmed any costs, but the government has stated that the State’s contribution to the project cannot exceed $2.8 billion in 2012 dollars.

 

 

 

Here are the highlights of the proposals given:

· Eight proposals were presented, given labels "A" through "H".

· The first two, Scenario's A and B, have two lanes each way and are not elevated. The third, Scenario C, has three lanes each way and is also not elevated.

· Scenario D does have an elevated structure with four lanes each way. Scenario E is also elevated. It may try to incorporate parking/office/retail space on the bottom of the structure with a 40 M.P.H. designed speed limit.

· Scenario F has a tunnel with two points of access in the South end and the North end. There would also be three lanes each way on the top of the tunnel.

· Scenario G has four lanes in each direction and would provide more connections than the tunnel would.

· Scenario H also has four lanes in each direction.

For more details, maps, and information go to this link: http://www.wsdot.wa.gov/Projects/Viaduct/solution.htm

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

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