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Come celebrate Spokane Street Viaduct completion!

Some three and a half years in construction, the Spokane Street Viaduct Widening Project is now complete!  At a celebration tomorrow Mayor Mike McGinn will be joined at a ribbon-cutting event by Seattle City Councilmember Tom Rasmussen and many other leaders representing the state, area businesses and community organizations. 

  • Spokane Street Viaduct Ribbon-Cutting
    Friday, November 16 at 10 a.m.
    First Avenue S at S Spokane Street
    (under viaduct east of First Ave S) 

The event will highlight the need for the project and its benefits, while acknowledging and thanking those who live and/or work in West Seattle and SODO for their understanding and cooperation over the long period of construction.

Looking south at northbound First Avenue S adjacent to the new ramp

The Spokane Street Viaduct Project doubled the viaduct width by adding 41 feet via a new structure built immediately adjacent to the old structure, which itself was refurbished and seismically reinforced.  The additional width allowed the project to install wider travel lanes, and add shoulders and deceleration and merge lanes, creating a safer and smoother traffic flow.  The project also added a new eastbound off-ramp at Fourth Avenue S, which opened to motorists in the summer of 2010.  The lower Spokane Street was fully reconstructed in concrete, including a standard sidewalk on the south side and multi-use trail on the north side of the street that connects with the existing bike path west of East Marginal Way.

A bit lesser known element of the project is the artwork that adorns deck columns below.   The colors and scemes harken back to long ago SODO history, with images and brief descriptions that recollect the natural and cultural history of the location.   

 

 

 

 

 

One of the last major pieces of the project puzzle was the westbound First Avenue S On/Off-ramp, which opened right before Labor Day Weekend.  Following that milestone crews wrapped up remaining elements for the structure travelers now utilize.

  New westbound First Avenue S On/Off-Ramp

 Thank you one and all for your patience!