The beginning stages to replace the Alaskan Way Viaduct begins!

After attending yesterday's Pioneer Square Neighborhood meeting about the Viaduct’s replacement, I was pleasantly surprised to find that Pioneer Square wouldn’t be immediately affected by construction. Starting July 7th, construction workers will begin to break ground in the efforts to start preparation for replacing the southern portion of the Alaskan Way Viaduct. This section stretches a mile long and is located in the SODO district. The south end viaduct replacement should continue into 2014 and connect with any future replacement of the Viaduct’s Central Waterfront Section, including the proposed Bored Tunnel, which is still in the planning stages. The south end portion on the viaduct will be replaced by a side-by-side road way stretching from S. Holgate St. to S. King St. offering 3 lanes in each direction with wider lanes and shoulders. An overcrossing will be built at the railway located on S. Atlantic to avoid strenuous back-ups on Alaskan Way S. A new street will be added between S. Atlantic and S. Royal Brougham, west of 1st Ave. This will be a detour route when portions of Alaskan Way S are closed later in the project. Seems over the next few years a number of construction projects will be underway, as the state, county, city and Port of Seattle start making way for a new revised waterfront. We are only at the very beginning of a very large project. I spoke with a few local building and business owners after the meeting. One seemed very concerned that the construction could have a negative effect on his building located in Pioneer Square. It’s a little preliminary to start worrying about the effects of this summer’s construction. The South end replacement is far enough south it shouldn’t have an immediate effect on historic Pioneer Square. However, the next portion of the viaduct’s replacement, The Central portion, could inadvertently take a small toll on the neighborhood. Its plans are still tentative. For more information on the Viaduct replacement please visit www. Alaskanwayviaduct.org. or if you have comments or concerns you can speak your mind at the next neighborhood meeting, which is on the 3rd Thursday of every month, times and locations can be found on the website.