Tagged: Alaskan Way viaduct

Should the Pike Place Market be connected to Elliot Bay with new walkways?

That’s one of many expensive questions on the minds of landscape designers in charge of rebuilding Seattle’s waterfront.

In less than a week, the city will once again convene stakeholders and the public for help shaping the future of the city’s  “front door” on Puget Sound.

The group Waterfront Seattle is calling on the public to join in discussions that will help determine what the new waterfront will look like, after the Alaskan Way Viaduct comes down.

It’s been a long running problem – how to keep and create affordable spaces for artists to live, work and perform in.

That’s the focus of Cultural Space Seattle, a two-day event beginning Tuesday at Town Hall. The City of Seattle is asking a wide range of people to roll up their sleeves to look for ways to preserve Seattle’s vibrant arts scene.

Watch as an entire section collapses:

The Washington Transportation Department says Seattle's Alaskan Way Viaduct will reopen at mid-day Saturday, ending traffic congestion drivers call "viadoom" a day-and-a-half early.

The Washington Transportation Department says the work that has shut down the Alaskan Way Viaduct in Seattle is on schedule.

WSDOT has published a new round of photos on it's Flickr site.

Spokesman Travis Phelps says the viaduct is scheduled to reopen early Monday. He said Wednesday it's unlikely the work would wrap up ahead of schedule. Some had hoped it would reopen in time for Sunday's Seahawks game in CenturyLink Field.

So far – not so bad. That seems to be the upshot of the first weekday commute without the Alaskan Way Viaduct through Seattle. Traffic was slow, but not totally gridlocked Monday morning.

The state Department of Transportation says many people heeded their warnings and changed their commute patterns. That was certainly the case on board the West Seattle water taxi, which picked up nearly twice as many riders.

The Monday morning commute in Seattle was congested but moving slowly as drivers dealt with "Viadoom," the closure of the Alaskan Way Viaduct, one of the city's main north-south highways.

The Rat City Rollergirls and a motorcycle stunt team will be taking over the Alaskan Way Viaduct for half an hour Saturday before demolition begins on the Seattle elevated highway.

The so-called "Carmageddon" in Los Angeles this summer was a bust — but its Seattle-based sequel "Viadoom" is being billed as the real deal.

When the Alaskan Way Viaduct shuts down at 7:30 p.m. this Friday, nearly 90,000 drivers will face detours and delays. Transportation officials have been encouraging commuters to ditch their cars during the nine day closure. Otherwise, they say roads through the city will be total gridlock.