Goodbye Viaduct!

[GoBlueInSF]

Originally Posted by MichaelinWA

The voters in SF defeated a proposal endorsed by their leaders that would have torn down the Embarcadero Freeway. That was 3 years before Loma Prieta. The post-quake decision not to rebuild was a good one, but don't make it sound like the citizens of that amazingly dysfunctional city are somehow smarter about these things. The Viaduct would probably not have been rebuilt either, had we been unfortunate enough to experience an earthquake strong enough to knock it down.

You only get your SF history 50% correct - immediately after Loma Prieta:

Freeway opponents began a new push to remove the freeway rather than repairing it, and they succeeded now that freeway backers could no longer say that the traffic displaced from the freeway would create gridlock on local streets. Herb Caen changed his position and supported removing the freeway rather than repairing it. The main opponents were Chinatown merchants, who claimed that their business declined by 15 to 40 percent after the earthquake.



On April 16, 1990, the Board of Supervisors held a hearing on removing the Embarcadero freeway, and hundreds of Chinatown merchants closed their stores and went to the hearing to oppose the measure. Despite the opposition, Supervisors narrowly passed a resolution calling for a study of a surface boulevard and of the underground freeway along the Embarcadero proposed by Mayor Art Agnos. Because of the expense of building an underground freeway, Agnos shifted to backing a surface boulevard that just went underground in front of the Ferry Building at the foot of Market St. The city ultimately adopted the surface boulevard without any undergrounding.



February 27, 1991, Mayor Agnos struck the symbolic first blow to begin the demolition of the freeway. After leaving office, Agnos remarked that “The best decision I made as mayor was to demolish that freeway. It removed that scar and opened up one of the most important parts of this city for development.”



The San Francisco Chronicle commented on June 17, 2000, in a story about the ceremony dedicating the improved Embarcadero boulevard, that despite the fierce debates about the issue, “A decade later, it's hard to find anyone who thinks ripping down the freeway was a bad idea.”

[eskercurve]

Finally.

That dangerous eyesore is coming down.

[Inkpoe]

Originally Posted by vandygirl

I hadn't heard that before. If it's true I hope they will change that plan. Where did you hear that there will be no downtown exits?

The tunnel is being called a "bypass". It's meant to bypass downtown. There's no DT entrance/exit in the tunnel; Northbound commuters who use Seneca or Western will either have to use the surface streets or go all the way to Mercer and maneuver back. They opted not to do exits/entrances within the tunnel due to cost.

http://www.seattle.gov/transportatio...Access_web.pdf

http://www.seattle.gov/transportatio...%20DRAFTv4.pdf

[MichaelinWA]

Untill today, I didn't realize that I could still access the northbound SR 99 onramp at Royal Brougham Way. I hopped on there, after navigating through a busier than usual 1st Ave., I was able to get to South Lake Union that way, faster than I had expected.

[vandygirl]

Originally Posted by Inkpoe

The tunnel is being called a "bypass". It's meant to bypass downtown. There's no DT entrance/exit in the tunnel; Northbound commuters who use Seneca or Western will either have to use the surface streets or go all the way to Mercer and maneuver back. They opted not to do exits/entrances within the tunnel due to cost.

http://www.seattle.gov/transportatio...Access_web.pdf

http://www.seattle.gov/transportatio...%20DRAFTv4.pdf

It looks like there are a couple of downtown exits but only at the south end near the stadium. Here's a video:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jwSPm...eature=related

This came from the washdot website:

"How will northwest Seattle residents get to SR 99?
Residents from northwest Seattle will have two options to get to or through downtown Seattle. They could travel along Elliott Avenue, as they do today, and drive down a new bridge over the railroad tracks (pdf 1.7 Mb) near Pike Place Market to a new Alaskan Way street along the waterfront. Alaskan Way will connect directly to SR 99 near South Royal Brougham Way.

If northwest Seattle residents want to use the SR 99 tunnel, they could take the new two-way Mercer Street to Sixth Avenue North and enter the tunnel at Republican Street. They could also use any of the existing connections to Aurora Avenue north of Mercer Street. Portal design provides more details about the SR 99 tunnel's north and south connections.

How will drivers from West Seattle and south King County get to downtown Seattle?
Drivers heading north on SR 99 will have access to downtown Seattle via an off-ramp to a new Alaskan Way street. The new Alaskan Way will provide several east-west connections to downtown. This access will replace the function of today’s single midtown viaduct off-ramp. Depending on the destination, some trips will get shorter while others may take a few minutes longer.

West Seattle residents can also reach downtown using the new Spokane Street Viaduct off-ramp to Fourth Avenue South. Portal design provides more details about the SR 99 tunnel's north and south connections."

WSDOT - Alaskan Way Viaduct and Seawall Replacement - Commonly Asked Questions (http://www.wsdot.wa.gov/Projects/Viaduct/Questions.htm#6 - broken link)

WSDOT - SR 99 Tunnel Project - North and south portals

[Ancalagon]

Right, there will be exists South of Downtown, but none Downtown.

[Inkpoe]

Originally Posted by vandygirl

It looks like there are a couple of downtown exits but only at the south end near the stadium.

...

I think someone needs to re-read what I wrote:

Originally Posted by Inkpoe

The tunnel is being called a "bypass". It's meant to bypass downtown. There's no DT entrance/exit in the tunnel; Northbound commuters who use Seneca or Western will either have to use the surface streets or go all the way to Mercer and maneuver back. They opted not to do exits/entrances within the tunnel due to cost.

I pointed out the "Northbound commuters" (West Seattle drivers) will have to use either the surface streets (evidently Alaskan Way)... or go all the way in the tunnel, come out Mercer and go back.

We are going from 6 exits to 2 exits (Mercer and Holgate). But no exits within the tunnel.

[Hemlock140]

I must say, it felt odd yesterday being under the viaduct at Royal Brougham waiting to turning left
while about 50' to my right debris from the demolition was falling. Got a picture on the phone.

[Seacove]

I'm on the Eastside so I haven't had a chance to go look yet. It will be so strange to not have it there blocking the view.

[Seacove]

So the next stage is digging the tunnel to replace the Viaduct and Big Bertha has arrived in Seattle:

Bertha tunnel-boring machine arrives in Seattle - Puget Sound Business Journal

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EMIorr7DJ7c

And this is how a Tunnel Boring Machine works:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MuYdnzcQXhk