June 2009
- We want to hear from you.
- Geotechnical work continues for the bored tunnel.
- Questions from you: How will travelers from Ballard, Magnolia and other northwest neighborhoods access SR 99?
We want to hear from you
Join the Federal Highway Administration, the Washington State Department of Transportation and the City of Seattle for a public scoping meeting on the Alaskan Way Viaduct replacement project. This is an opportunity for you to learn about the proposed bored tunnel alternative and other elements of the overall program, such as the seawall replacement and new waterfront surface street. We also want to hear your thoughts on what potential environmental effects and mitigation measures should be studied in the bored tunnel alternative’s supplemental draft environmental impact statement.
Downtown
Monday, June 8, 5 – 7 p.m.
Seattle City Hall, Bertha Landes Room
600 Fourth Ave.
West Seattle
Wednesday, June 10, 6 – 8 p.m.
Madison Middle School, Cafeteria
3429 45th Ave. SW
Ballard
Thursday, June 11, 6 – 8 p.m.
Leif Erickson Hall, Auditorium
2245 NW 57th St.
Can’t attend one of the meetings? Please e-mail or mail your comments to:
SDEIS2ScopingComments@wsdot.wa.gov
Alaskan Way Viaduct and Seawall Replacement Program
Attn: Angela Freudenstein
999 Third Ave., Suite 2424
Seattle, WA 98104
Please submit your comments by July 10, 2009, to ensure they are considered in the project’s environmental documents.
Geotechnical work continues for the bored tunnel
In preparation for construction, we are conducting a second round of geotechnical drilling along the tunnel’s proposed alignment. We will drill approximately 50 holes between June and September. Once the drilling is complete, we will have soil samples every 100 to 400 feet along the tunnel’s alignment. While substantial geotechnical information is available from previous environmental studies, this work will aid our design of the tunnel and the tunnel boring machine.
The drillings will be located along First Avenue between approximately S. Royal Brougham Way and Virginia Street. Additional drillings will occur northeast of Virginia Street and First Avenue, following the bored tunnel alignment as it continues toward Aurora Avenue N. Some of the drillings will be in or near sidewalks and parking lanes, and others may be in traffic lanes. The drillings will produce vibration and noise but will not exceed the limits established by the City of Seattle noise ordinance for daytime outside construction activities.
A map of the drilling locations is available on our Web site.
Questions from you
We have received a number of questions and comments from you regarding the bored tunnel and related transit, city street and waterfront improvements. Each month we feature one of those questions in this news update.
Our June question from you is: How will travelers from Ballard, Magnolia and other northwest neighborhoods access SR 99?
We understand that efficient access through the city and to SR 99 is important to northwest Seattle. Routes north of the Ship Canal, such as Leary Avenue NW and N. 39th Street, and NW Market Street and N. 46th Street, will remain options for accessing SR 99 and the new bored tunnel. If you use 15th Avenue NW and Elliott Avenue, your route will change, but we believe it will continue to be efficient. One option would be for you to use two-way Mercer Street to access SR 99 and the bored tunnel via new connections just south of Mercer Street. You could also use the new Alaskan Way. We will connect Elliott and Western avenues to the new and improved Alaskan Way by bridging over the railroad tracks. The new Alaskan Way will be four lanes (two lanes each way) plus turn lanes between Pike and Columbia streets. South of Columbia Street, Alaskan Way will have six lanes plus left turn lanes. All intersections will be signalized, and the signals will be timed to move traffic efficiently. Alaskan Way will also connect directly to SR 99 near the stadiums.
Maps and brochures describing these connections are available on our Web site.
About these updates
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