A brand new pedestrian bridge linking Northgate Station to North Seattle College and points beyond made the opening of the Northgate Link light rail extension on Saturday even sweeter. The John Lewis Memorial Bridge, as it’s been christened, spans the gash Interstate 5 tore down the middle of Seattle and greatly expands the walkshed of Northgate Station.
People walking, rolling, and biking across the bridge will still hear the roar of a freeway that carries about 175,000 cars per day through this section and breath in the fumes, but it certainly beats a lengthy detour around the I-5 trench. The bridge is about 1900 feet long due to the width of I-5 here and the need to span the wetland in Barton Woods, which does make for nice scenery at the western end of the bridge. A bench here provides a lovely spot to enjoy Barton Woods’ campus pond, just far enough away for the din of I-5 not to be too obnoxious.
Officials marked the opening with a ribbon-cutting ceremony on Saturday morning. Our Senior Editor Ryan Packer was on hand to livetweet the event, which included a press-and-dignitaries light rail ride to the event from U District Station. Besides a dull pair of scissors drawing out the moment, the ribbon-cutting went off without a hitch.
At a press event the previous night, workers could still be seen putting final touches on the pedestrian bridge. It looked like they were applying some sealant to the bridge surface and smoothing some rough edges. Planned emergency call boxes are also still to be installed, but the construction crew offered a tongue-in-cheek replacement with an art installation in place with old-fashioned telephone on pedestal with spooky recorded messages playing when activated. Construction came down to the wire but still made its opening curtain.
