At what point does Seattle put up permanent barricades between SODO and Belltown?
The Deep Bore Tunnel will cater to Hwy99 traffic willing to pony up some cash for a quickie trip under downtown. About half the existing viaduct traffic will have to find another way. That's on surface streets and the new Alaska Way. So if I have this right:
3rd Ave is transit only.
Part of 4th/5th become a connector couplet for SLUT and 1st Hill streetcars.
Part of 1st becomes a local streetcar line.
Light Rail will get you from Lynnwood to Seatac in about an hour and half maybe 20 years from now.
And the final body blow to commerce comes from purposely timing the signals along Alaska to create a 'stop and go', roll down your window and smell the roses at each stop light, type boulevard.
Rebuilding I-5 is problematic, but what the heck, it's mostly empty these days and can take up all the slack from people trying to get north/south, instead of a latte refill from the throngs of strollers passing the time of day in one of the many new public spaces (you know, the ones that generate no revenue or taxes, and require city services to operate)

Rome wasn't built in a day. Cathedrals took centuries. It might take a few generations, but this is a beautiful vision for Seattle and the region. Let's get behind it.

I'm excited about the plan in general.

Obviously some "fold" elements might be built after the 2016-2018 period. That's not ideal but would be ok, particularly when the basic state (such as the existing ferry terminal) is a decent temporary condition.

We'll need to make sure the boulevard spaces under the folds are optimized. Can't have these be secondary.

I'm worried about shade. The sidewalk on Alaskan seems distressingly far from the buildings, which will also be controversial among retailers. The folds look unlikely to hold large trees.

If you look at how people use the sculpture park, there's way to little shade. When it gets to 68 or 70 degrees, people stake out the little dots of shade and move their chairs every 15 minutes...

And with King County and the City of Seattle ending "homelessness" in 2015, there won't be any derelicts littering up our Shiny New Places.

When do I get to hot tub with the walruses?

http://waterfrontseattle.org/upload/file_20110520124723/11_05_19_Public_Meeting.pdf

Good article. You have to be excited about bringing in the High Line architects to design the project. And you need to be concerned about a bold concept being gummed to death by Seattle's endless philistine committee process and its inherent bias toward timidity and compromise.

Please don't forget that this is first and foremost, historically, a port. In all this grand museum-like vision, people and their cars still need to get around---and you seem to be glorifying a traffic jam:

".... four lanes of slow traffic, stopping at most intersections.... a rather constricted main walkway along the seawall....Note: no waterfront trolley. That would make this corridor too crowded, so the trolley or streetcar will probably migrate up to First Avenue instead."

And what will this do to First Avenue?

THIS IS A TRANSPORTATION CORRIDOR AND A PORT; PLEASE GIVE IT SOME RESPECT.

"Rebuilding I-5 is problematic, but what the heck, it's mostly empty these days and can take up all the slack from people trying to get north/south..." Holy Crap...do you ever take I-5? It's a frigging disaster all the time. I avoid it like the plague, except that its the only north/south corridor through the hour glass that is safe to use...this past weekend was especially dire. Of course, if you drive on it at 3am it probably is mostly empty, but what isn't?

Regarding the park system along the waterfront...do they have to be so angular? Would be so much nicer and pleasing with organic shapes instead.

Out of town planners and architects invariably forget that Seattle is rain prone 9 months a year. Open air parks fail because they require rain clothing to enjoy and really its a small group who like to get wet for fun. Enclosed structures like Westlake Mall are to hot and stuffy for those who come in from the elements with all their rain gear. The only Seattle structure that works is the Pike Place Tourist Mall aka Pike Place Market. On rainy days the pedestrian can walk the covered main arcade aisles, while on sunny days the street or Post Alley beckon. No change of clothes required. The shopkeepers act as a deterrent to public safety issues and as a welcome source of local information. The viaduct provided those who walked from the Market to Pioneer Square a covered pathway. Only tourists walked the sidewalks along the view blocking piers of Seattle's waterfront. Really it is the rain that will separate Seattle from its much ballyhooed Grand Waterfront Park Design. And when the sun finally does come out how many citizens would rather be at the waterfront park than say at Madison Park or Greenlake. Some locals use Victor Steinbrueck Park. But in the main designs like this end up being used by tourists and the homeless. To counter that there need be clusters of commerce and rest stops and rain protection. Hey, how about a Starbucks at every park section? Or a Tom Douglas restaurant....or those much encouraged food trucks and carts. Frisbee zones? Dog runs? Bike parking and repair? Comfort stations? How about parking a tug boat or two on dry land for the kids to climb on? The remaining railroad tracks could be used for a rolling stock museum with exhibits housed in spruced up box cars. An interactive, rain protected and shopkeeper involved Waterfront Park will succeed; a simple open space with view folds and 4 lane car traffic will fail for lack of understanding of the city and its social climate as well as its dominant weather patterns. Rain is the master of Seattle Parks.

real Seattlites get wet and deeply enjoy and appreciate our parks.

I agree about the value of covered arcades chapala21.

Green spaces will be used in poor weather if they go somewhere. It won't be heavy use but it'll be use. I work near Alaskan Way and it seems to get decent pedestrian volumes year round, including locals headed for the ferry or lunch near my office, or the Aquarium etc. farther north. Parks do ok in moderately bad weather if people are walking to get somewhere.

Large viewpoints, by contrast, will be used in good weather and not used in poor weather. I'd like to see the Belltown park in particular focus on the walk through it and on being a small neighborhood park, and less on being a tourist destination.

One comment above reminds me that Seattle has a misconception about parks, that they'll automatically be overrun by drunks. We have this perception because we don't have much park space downtown, and the drunks per acre ratio is high. Adding more parks will improve the ratio. (Enforcing laws is another useful tool...)

"We have this perception because we don't have much park space downtown, and the drunks per acre ratio is high. Adding more parks will improve the ratio."

The solution to pollution is dilution?

For once I think David Brewster is short sited.

Any successful effort to create a marvelous waterfront park for Seattle must include turning Elliot Avenue into a grand entrance into the city.

Once you cross the Ballard Bridge, there are fields, a very underused shopping center, warehouses, and amazing access to three great attraction … Fisherman’s Terminal, Magnolia and Elliott Bay Marina. This is a great opportunity to create a north south boulevard entering Seattle from the north.

If we do not pay attention to this corridor, the planned waterfront will degenerate into a traffic mess. Growing populations north and south of Seattle need a way to get into the city, not just through the city via the Tunnel and I5.

This new boulevard, I propose renaming it all the "Seattle Way," need not be all about the automobile. The location is ideal to create transit parking that will allow car traffic to transit to public transit. Imagine driving to a parking lot someplace along 15th, getting into bus or trolley, and being able to go anywhere you want in Seattle!

... excerpted from a full length essay on The AVE:

http://handbill.us/?p=9812

Well if we're going to put in that durned tunnel, then yeah for the awesome park plans!

David, when I last checked there still no funding for this grand promenade. The more likely outcome will be a wall of high-rise condos for the wealthy, which hardly "connects" downtown Seattle to the waterfront. Which is artificial, created from fill...

I don't get it, the Viaduct will be gone, there are currently 4 lanes of traffic there, a wide sidewalk and a bike path, and somehow "there isn't room" for the waterfront trolley???

Someone isn't measuring up here, or telling us the truth. A waterfront trolley is not the same as the 1st street trolley, there's a cliff/bluff of height between the two. The Waterfront trolley services the Cruise Ship termimal and the zillions of tourists. It meets the Ferry, for a almost no walk connection.

I'm not against the 1st street trolley but it's not a transit replacement for the waterfront trolley.

"But it won't be easy, particularly given Seattle's way of building and bungling major projects."

Like the tunnel itself?

"that they'll automatically be overrun by drunks. We have this perception because "... Pioneer Sq & Victor Steinbrook Park are full of drunks.

Two places the city keeps harping on are wonderful places to "visit" because of the "quaint" (meaning smells like piss unless it just rained) atmosphere.

It's good to be kept up to date on this stuff, thanks David. GaryP is surely correct about the waterfront trolley. First Avenue isn't going to work for the trolley line, that's just a sop, and junking the trolley for some trees is a bad trade. I haven't seen any plans but the Belltown Park does not sound like a Waterfront Park project; how did that get in the program?

No, Mr Brewster, Seattle is obviously not able to create a "splendid waterfront park" with most elements of this particular design being inherently & absurdly dysfunctional. Do Seattlers ever use their heads for any purpose other than a decoration above their shoulders and its tongue to utter absurdities? I won't blame all Seattlers for the stupidity of leading spokespersons, but oh my god Seattlers are stupid. "Duh, pretty pick-churs, pretty skulp-churs, pretty grass place, tunnel thingy outta sight outta mind, man, like totally like oh wow man like totally awesome, duh."

@SeattleJew: not a bad idea — Elliott and 15th have so much potential — though I don't know if I favor Seattle Way W. as a name. Too generic. I'd be happy with the Elliott name being extended up 15th to the Ballard Bridge, though.

Hate to intrude on this grandious idea but it boils down to one simple fact. MONEY AND HOW ARE YOU GOING TO PAY FOR IT.

I wish these big projects were as simple as how to pay for them. Unable to understand basic engineering, Seattlers have produced a complete road system disaster and likewise dysfunctional parks, pedestrian, bicycling and mass transit infrastructure. Seattlers may never learn how the more money they end up needing, the more they're being cheated. A new waterfront parkspace has tremendous potential, but this design is another definitive Seattle example of ridiculous AND reckless. Function once again follows and is left far behind hideously avante garde form.

While David's article is a good starting point to get the design of the waterfront started, it almost sounds like most of it has already been predetermined. The comparison for this space shouldn't be the Highline park in NYC. It should be the Hudson River park on the west edge of Manhattan. This really isn't a park, it a series of spaces.

What makes it so great is not that it's 'GRAND'. It's that it's utterly ordinary... and accessible to the people who live in Manhattan. Here's the link to it..... http://www.hudsonriverpark.org/construction/index.asp

Notice how the neighborhoods adjacent to the park are all represented since those are the people who use it. And if it's not accessible to those right next to it, what's the point in building it?

The Hudson River Park has bike trails, walking trails, lots of park benches, bike rental shop, off leash dog runs and skate parks. One of the green spaces also hosts outdoor movies in the Summers.

In short, there was attention to the small details and having the space be actively used by the people who live near it. That's why it's so popular and successful.

You can go ahead and put this treasure next to the Century21 plan, they can keep each other company while they wait for funding from all of Seattle for the apparent use as a neighborhood park.

If downtown really wantsto spend a penny more on anything beyond a simple park, then they can find the money in the increased REET to pay for that.

Let the eat Sculpture parks.

Create as many beach sections (not rocky bulkheads) as possible, even if that means a narrower pedestrian area. The beaches will save money on the seawall and those funds can be swapped to help increase open spaces, sheltered areas, view promenads, etc.

In summer, beaches will be used by all if they are wide enough to walk along and not feel walled in. In inclimate times, they still provide a view panorama, both for drivers and peds.

The downtown edition of Golden Gardens would be ok with me, I might actually use it.

Sadly it appears Mr. Brewster has drunk the koolaid. His article doesn't mention the inevitable wall of condos that no doubt is already in planning stages. orino has nailed that aspect. A truly interesting article would be an investigation of what permits are being sought and their progress through the approval system. I'd really like to know about that information.

And chapala21 has a lot more of it right. Some Seattleites do use their parks in the rainy 9 (or 10, or 11) months of the year, but the vast majority of likely users for this park will be tourists and the homeless/chronic inebriates/mentally ill who will be hanging out panhandling and sleeping and doing whatever they do to pass their days. Couple that with 4 lanes of slow traffic with its accompanying noise and pollution will make this area anathema for locals. The truth as I see it is that the developers and the city politicians who seek to and/or will benefit from serving them are getting their way once again.

Another thing not addressed is the noise and pollution that will be created by those who MUST drive because Metro doesn't serve them or they work in another city and need to get there. North/south city streets will be gridlocked from early morning to mid or late evening as those drivers avoid the tunnel and its tolls and if they're crazy enough to put a street car on 1st, which will eliminate yet another north/south corridor. It's going to be a real hell of a mess and no one will ever be held accountable.

mspat - how do condos hurt the park usage and access, as long as they don't cross into the space vacated by the viaduct? If anything, condos towards the east are an asset - more people who will give a baseline activity level to the open spaces.

Now, getting a few firepits on some beach areas - that would absolutely draw people!

A park free of cigarette butts, panhandlers, dogs, bicycle lanes and sharrows, alcohol, and age-old posters on polls would be nice.

I agree with pragmatic and would add that a super special REET should be added to those condo sales to help pay for anything beyond retaining wall and shoreline restoration.

I'm not about to vote for another Bridging the Gap between my wallet and some billionaire's real estate development.

The future home of HempFest is not my highest civic priority.

The mspat reminds us of rail logic: Uphill - Bus. Flat ground - Rail.

Alaskan Way is the rail choice, NOT 1st Ave with Middle-of-street stops making the wait not so good. No trolleybus though they climb better. The "International" Line should work out okay. Tie it to a Waterfront Streetcar Line. SDOT isn't doing their best work. Warshdot highway boys & misled flagwaver dealers making private arrangements with department heads and legislators.
The DBT is worthless to near everyone else, especially the responsible voters.

Mayor Mike's gut instinct told him "Bad Idea" but Mike couldn't put in engineering terms the extent of its "fatal flaws", including MercerWest which is equally atrocious engineering, truth be told.
How dare they take this risk casually?
Mike. Dont quit.

Seems quite beautiful to me.

I live near Volunteer Park and see lots of international tourists there almost every sunny day. Seattle's parks are definitely a tourist draw - there aren't many cities where you'll find 120 foot Sequoias. And they provide an in-city glimpse of the amazing natural surroundings.

If the city commits to pulling this off, a waterfront promenade would be a boon for tourism. People throughout the world are interested in bold urban design. And lets not forget - those tourist dollars fund much of our local government through special hotel and car rental taxes.

One small quibble with this line:
"Pier 57 (currenly the forlorn Waterfront Park, a sad relic of 1970s design)"

Let's not be so quick to toss aside history. Someday that building will be 100 years old, and it will be very interesting simply because of that fact.

But think about how cool it's going to look from your helicopter.

Oh, you don't have one either..?

The grass lawn atop the ferry terminal embraces the view of the parking lot.
The functional ferry building below has no natural lighting.
Neither the unnaturally angular dog piss putting green nor its replica south offer shade. Surrounding the larger waste of space are decorative pier pilings; a perfect place for budding swimmers to test survival skills. Some will drown, lah-dee-dah. Others will be reminded of the ludicrous hazard posing as sculpture. No medians for Alaskan Way? South of Spring Street, a 6-lane sprint! Even the 4-lane sprint north of Spring will be a pedestrian hazard as heavy Alaskan Way & cross-street traffic frustrates motorists who become aggressive and reckless. There's a reason this James Corner Fields keeps most of his work under wraps. It's mostly avante garde crap preferred by Seattle high art elite.

Another waste fo money as it will become the waterfront Pioneer Square. A great gathing place for criminals drunks down and outers and just plain bad people. Maybe they will creat a Parks police to do what the city police are nto allowed to do arrest this people who just mess up our public space and drive out the real people

I agree with Mr. Baker and respond to pragmatic that if there is going to be a huge wall of condos, and I'm sure there will be, sooner rather than later, the condo developers and the eventual owners must pay for this front yard proposed for them. I see no reason to tax the heck out of the rest of us for what amounts to a front yard for private property owners, despite the fact that it will not be their private property. I suspect that the city and county are salivating at all the huge property taxes they will soon be able to collect. Let those who will actually use this "park" pay the full cost of building and maintaining it. I will not be going there. I feel sad that a whole section of the city, not just two stadiums, that I don't want, didn't vote for, and won't use is now lost to me. And I hope the city and county officials who will be planning the taxing for this will be sure to include truly epic amounts for the views that will no longer be available to anyone but the condo owners high enough up to see them.

This is a much better start than I expected. I like that there are only 4 lanes, except for the southern approaches to the Ferry Terminal. I like the broad sidewalks on the east side of the street, tying in the existing buildings. I like that it's not just one continuous linear park with nothing going for it but a series of focal points geared to each neighborhood.

I would prefer if there were more private development such as condos and street-level retail (with developers partnering on building the park areas) but there might just not be enough room. I'd like the waterfront to be a neighborhood in its own right but if each section is integrated with the existing neighborhoods to the east that might not be necessary.

I do worry that the large park spaces might be underused, and I think it's important that each neighborhood have lots of input into how the adjacent park area is designed and developed. The Olympic Sculpture Park has great views but isn't really useful compared to other city parks that are more integrated with neighborhoods (think Cal Anderson Park), and if it's the model for these other park areas it might not work out.

But the general idea here is sound, and I'm glad to see this moving forward. It will be worth the cost, we just need to structure and stage the plan so that we can attract private investment to make it happen.

It is 7:36 pm time in the dear pacific northwest. "Close your eyes, it's all right" sang James with guitar thanks to c-span rebroadcast with that song's 2 minutes. The names are pronounced aphabetically by many families speaking together in pairs, trios, respectful.

I respect your mayor for his gut instinct to oppose YOUR most horrific mistake ever (emphasis upon ever). YOU'll have to decide who took the WRONG course and who took the simpler/safer course. Of course your mayor mister mike & his PAL! also named mike. Them Mikes am the BESTest of the BEST !!
God save you people from yer Wurshdirt hahweigh pah-lannerszzz...

"Piere Custino's" at 7:41 harkening names which began with the letter C offering gratitudes & fair wishes

Often for your fair bay view city, I offer gratitudes, though it is polluted more with the bore tunnel actually. But 'they' won't explain just how or address the concern. Your dots are incompetent blowers-up of BIG stuff, for cryin out loud. Historic building collapse isn't be ruled out, but 'they' aren't worried. Temporary and Permanent Closure isn't ruled out. But you northwest motor-ites (who like to be referred to as "ites") YOU R thuh dumber & dumberest IN-gin-ear-types what ever thought so. 4 cryin Ow-Tah LOUW----D.
Giver yer mike a parade.
He's SAVED your ass's, bros / sis's.
MikeBGood. Mike be GoooooD-ah!
(^;

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Thank-you for big picture on the park.

Four special purpose parks over water strung along the waterfront is a good idea in the circumstances. Too bad there's not enough land available for one big “destination” multipurpose park. As Borkowski (above) points out, an obvious paradigm for a string of parks is Hudson River Park in Manhattan, a kayak launching site from which James Corner showed at his presentation at Benaroya. Pier 48 is plausibly sellable as a sometimes regional draw, like the stadiums, but the others look more like local improvements to their neighborhoods, counting the park at the Aquarium as connected with Pike Place Market because of the tourist orientation.

The promenades may just be connective tissue, as Brewster says, but without them the dominant feature on the ground would be 26 blocks of four plus lanes of roadway. So three cheers for the tree-lined promenades/bicycle corridor; they will provide a rival “visual” to the roadway, a continuous green unifying/functional structure for the waterfront as a whole. “Green spaces will be used in poor weather if they go somewhere”, observes mhays (above).

David Brewster is right to worry about paying for it and selling it to the public. He closes by wondering whether a central waterfront park is the best way to revitalize downtown. Revitalize downtown? It’s a nice something along the waterfront but it really doesn’t read as a downtown park, is one answer to that, both because it lacks a “central” park and because it’s in another part of town. Regardless of its considerable design ingenuity, the waterfront project will feel more like Seattle Center feels to downtown than Westlake park does: proximate as the crow flies but, at Fifth & Union, say, psychologically a bridge too far. Maybe it’s time to talk of a central waterfront parks area plain and simple, with special ties to Pioneer Square, Pike Place Market, and Belltown.