Now that Bertha is fully repaired, beefed up, and churning away in earnest, it’s becoming easier to contemplate the demise of the Viaduct. And with it, the creation of a vibrant new civic asset: Seattle’s waterfront. There’s no doubt that significant time and effort has already been invested in the waterfront design, under the auspices of Waterfront Seattle. Their vision is one that attracts locals and tourists alike while maintaining the corridor’s value as an efficiently functioning component of the city’s infrastructure.
As we approach the waterfront’s transition at the end of this decade, the process of finalizing that vision is taking hold. Outstanding issues include those you’d expect to have in such a project, notably roadway width and its resulting effect on transit prioritization, freight mobility, and public access. Against this background, it’s surprising that Western Ave is not included in the redevelopment plans. This underutilized infrastructure asset parallels the waterfront renewal zone from Yesler Way to Battery Street, presenting an intriguing opportunity to alleviate the challenges facing the project and further enhance the character of the waterfront community.
Modernizing Western to be utilized as a one-way northbound arterial would maintain traffic flows while reducing the need for lanes on, and overall footprint of, Alaskan Way. Western’s width appears sufficient to facilitate at least three traffic lanes for the length of the corridor. The arterial would make a natural connection to the existing one-way Western Ave arterial north of Lenora Street.
