SEATTLE — If you haven’t been to the Seattle waterfront lately, you may notice a few changes.
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Crews finished the seawall segment around the aquarium in February. Work between Piers 55 and 57 has also been completed, now with a new light-penetrating surface. Pedestrians will notices clear, square blocks under their feet as they walk the waterfront. This will allow daylight to reach the water below to meet new environmental shoreline standards.
The Seattle Department of Transportation is boasting the reopening of the sidewalk and traffic signal three months ahead of schedule.
But work is not finished on the Seattle seawall. Crews will spend the summer on seismic work for the stretch between Piers 62 and 63. Once completed, the seawall will be up-to-date from Washington Street to Virginia Street.
Even as seawall construction inches closer to finishing up, the waterfront work will continue over the next couple years with rebuild projects slated for Piers 62 and 63, and the surrounding roads that will form as the Alaskan Way Viaduct comes down. Rebuilding the Marion Street Bridge that connects First Avenue and Colman Dock has also been proposed.
Work on the Seattle seawall began in 2013. The original wall was built in 1934, and the new seawall is expected to last at least 75 years.
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