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Tag: Alaskan Way Viaduct

Archives Spotlight: Ride through Highway 99’s past and future via the State Archives

Archives Spotlight: Ride through Highway 99’s past and future via the State Archives

The last car to travel the Alaskan Way Viaduct cruised into a cold, dry Seattle night around 10 p.m. Friday, January 11, 2019. The two-level stretch of State Route 99 along coastal downtown has been an element of the city’s skyline since the early 1950s, but safety concerns have hastened its departure. The viaduct was damaged by the Nisqually earthquake in 2001, and has been deemed susceptible to future damage should another earthquake rock the structure. A tunnel under downtown…

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When the viaduct was being built

When the viaduct was being built

(Photo courtesy of Washington State Archives) As Blood, Sweat & Tears sang in its 1969 classic “Spinning Wheel,” what comes up must come down. That’s the case for the south mile of the Alaskan Way Viaduct along the Seattle waterfront, as crews began tearing it down recently. The project to replace the viaduct with a tunnel is slated to begin late this year and is supposed to be completed in late 2015. For those of you wondering what it looked…

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