Issue link: http://www.wacmagazine.com/i/997709
JULY / AUGUST 2018 35 removal a priority for safety, not just aesthetics. "We've had an occasional glimpse of what's to come when the viaduct has been closed," Bob says. "Without the noise there's a real sense of reconnection to the water." SAFER CONNECTIONS Reuniting downtown and Puget Sound is integral to the city's Waterfront Seattle Program, which involves more than a dozen projects spread across two miles from CenturyLink Field to Bell Street Park. e list includes a new landscaped promenade running from Pioneer Square to Pine Street, a redesigned Waterfront Park centered at the western terminus of Union Street with expansive views across Puget Sound, and mobility improvements that will ease the connection between upper Union Street and the water. e Union Street link will provide a pedestrian bridge to a new staircase and elevator to the wa- terfront. e project is scheduled to begin in 2021, according to Waterfront Seattle Director Marshall Foster. Other projects include the recently rebuilt Elliott Bay Sea- wall and a major expansion of the Seattle Aquarium connect- ing to Pike Place Market. "Reconnecting the waterfront and downtown will benefit everyone that lives, works and plays down here," Chuck says. "All of these projects together are going to deliver a waterfront that showcases our city and the Sound." ey're also going to create safer connections for WAC members who enjoy taking their fitness outside and others who use the waterfront as part of their commute. "I'm a big fan of more park spaces, particularly downtown, where it's getting more intensely urban all the time," says member Bob Wallace, who sits on the Club's board of governors and lives on Vashon Island. When taking the Vashon foot ferry into downtown, 2012 • Seattle voters approve $290 million bond to replace Elliott Bay Seawall. 2013 • Seawall construction begins. • Alaskan Way Viaduct replacement tunnel project stalls after boring machine "Bertha" gets stuck. 2015 • Pike Place Market breaks ground on expansion MarketFront. • Seattle Aquarium expansion master plan approved by city. • "Bertha" resumes drilling. 2016 • Pier 62 rebuild approved by city. 2017 • "Bertha" breaks through, ending two-mile dig. • New Pike Place MarketFront opens. • Elliott Bay Seawall replacement project complete. • Groundbreaking on Pier 62 rebuild project. Coming in 2019… • New Pier 62 will open to the public. • State Route 99 tunnel will open to traffic. • Final stretch of Alaskan Way Viaduct will be removed. • Construction will begin on entirety of new Waterfront Park. PROMENADE AT UNION STREET It's nearly impossible to keep up with everything happening on the Seattle waterfront. Here's a look at some of the main highlights during the past six years.