Posted on 02/25/2019 7:15:25 AM PST by Tolerance Sucks Rocks
Seattle’s transportation system will fundamentally change on Jan. 11 when the Alaskan Way Viaduct closes permanently.
For more than 60 years, drivers have skirted downtown while enjoying a scenic, waterfront view of Elliott Bay. But the elevated highway is vulnerable to collapse in an earthquake, so after years of debate, planning and construction, a new Highway 99 tunnel will open in its place.
We’ve reported on all the twists and turns that have led to this point.
Here’s a look back on that coverage.
1911 — 1969: The viaduct gets built
Seattle streets grew more crowded after the turn of the century as cars ownership soared. City engineers, in response, began to look for a route drivers could use to bypass downtown.
In 1911, engineer Virgil Bogue created the first comprehensive plan for the Municipal Plans Commission. He recommended street widening and tunnels to create more space, but Seattle voters rejected his ideas in 1912.
Moving people and freight through Seattle remained a pressing issue. Water flowed daily under the wooden Railroad Avenue, which ran along the waterfront, causing the support columns to weaken and rot.
In 1934, Seattle raised enough money to build a seawall on the central waterfront, according to HistoryLink.org. Behind the seawall, which opened in 1936, the city paved a four-lane road and named it Alaskan Way as a nod to Alaska’s importance to Seattle’s economic development. The new road replaced Railroad Avenue.
Railroad owners and businesses on the waterfront despised the bypass street; they felt the additional traffic would harm shipping and increase the time it took to handle cargo.
(Excerpt) Read more at seattletimes.com ...
So...you could die if the Viaduct falls over?
What is going to happen when the tunnel collapses?
Seem like that just built an expensive way to die horribly vs a scenic way to die horribly....
Be interesting to see what happens in the tunnel when the drunks/tweakers/stoners start playing high speed bumper cars inside.....
Out of the frying pan, into the fire.
they like to spend big $$$$$$$...
A tunnel is not at risk in an earthquake? Enlighten me someone.
One reason eastern Washington wants to form it’s own state; paying for the west side’s extravagant roads like this tunnel. Big Bertha was idle for over a year and no mention of what the state was billed on the lease.
They closed the Viaduct three weeks before the tunnel opened with limited access; four lanes reduced to two through the tunnel.
I would venture that you are not “safe” either place, but rather “much safer” in such an underground structure.
(In either case ALWAYS be ready to meet your Maker. You will be forever grateful.)
Excerpt:
“...underground structures are safe because they move with the soil, while structures above ground sway back and forth.
Imagine a plate of fruit-filled gelatin dessert. Tunnels are like the pieces of fruit at the base of the gelatin, while above-ground structures are like the fruit toward the top. If you shake the plate, the movement becomes more exaggerated as it flows up from the base of the gelatin. In an earthquake, this translates to tunnel movement measured in inches, while the movement above ground might be measured in feet.
SR 99 tunnel design
Beyond these generally earthquake-resistant traits, the SR 99 tunnel has been specifically designed to withstand a 9.0 magnitude earthquake. This magnitude earthquake only occurs every 2,500 years on average.
(snip)
http://www.wsdot.wa.gov/Projects/Viaduct/Status/Blog/tunnels-and-earthquakes
If a mega-quake hits Seattle as could happen if the Cascadia plate shifts, I'd rather be in Idaho. However, if I'm on these roads, I'd rather be in the tunnel with modern earthquake mitigation technology than on the viaduct (either upper or lower deck) with 1960's technology.
What if they built the tunnel and no one would ride in it
PING.
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