Alaskan Way Viaduct Project Update (December 2011)

Work to replace Seattle’s aging and at-risk elevated Alaskan Way Viaduct highway with a deep-bore tunnel continues to make important progress.

Starting in November 2011, construction crews began demolishing an 1,100-foot stretch of the Alaskan Way Viaduct’s southern end – a key early milestone in the $4.2 billion project to replace the waterfront highway. Another major step occurred in October, when Hitachi Zosen Corp. of Japan signed a contract to supply the machine that will tunnel the 57.5-foot-diameter tunnel beneath downtown Seattle. “Signing this contract gets us one step closer to taking down the vulnerable Alaskan Way Viaduct,” said Gov. Chris Gregoire. “This state-of-the-art technology allows us to keep SR 99 – and the region’s economy – open for business during construction to replace this critical state highway.” These actions follow on the heels of both the signing this summer of the project’s Record of Decision and a public referendum in August in which voters overwhelmingly endorsed the high-profile project.

Alaskan Way Viaduct Replacement – Corridor Map

http://www.wsdot.wa.gov/Projects/Viaduct/Map.htm

The Alaskan Way Viaduct section of State Route 99 runs from South Holgate Street south of downtown Seattle to Battery Street just north of downtown Seattle, where the Battery Street Tunnel connects the roadway to Aurora Avenue North.

CONCUR worked on the project from 2007 to 2010, with its role focused on collaborative process design, strategic planning advice and stakeholder involvement. CONCUR was part of a team that helped build broad consensus for the deep-bore tunnel alternative that helped break a years-long impasse.

For more on any of these developments and other AWV replacement-related news, see the Washington State Department of Transportation website at: http://www.wsdot.wa.gov/projects/viaduct/