Seattle’s big ugly nightmare
February 27th, 2007
The Alaskan Way Viaduct has cast it’s shadow on the Seattle waterfront for more than 50 years and has reached the end of it’s useful life. It’s time for this big ugly nightmare to end, but city and state goverment can’t seem to decide on any real alternative to fix the problem. The state of Washington would like to rebuild this double-decker monolith with an even taller, wider monster. Seattle mayor Greg Nickels would like to bury the freeway underneath Alaskan Way in a tunnel which would be narrower than the current viaduct.
They just don’t seem to get it.
Seattle, a city with a reputation for protecting the enviroment and looking to alternative forms of transportation, needs to widen their view of the world and find a REAL alternative to rebuilding this highway. Both San Francisco and Portland removed freeways and opened up their waterfront areas and provided alternative transportation methods… why can’t Seattle?
The viaduct needs to go… no tunnel… and absolutely no elevated highway.
