Waterfront in Seattle For All
Allied Arts asked members of the greater Seattle architectural design community to produce visions and renderings of what the Seattle Waterfront could become without the Alaskan Way Viaduct and prioritized as a place for people, not just a transportation corridor. Below are some of the highlights that illustrate the major themes from the collaborative.
Click here to view the complete Waterfront For All report in PDF format. (Please be patient…the report is large and requires several seconds to fully download for viewing.)
1) Terminal 46 near the sports stadiums is an 88-acre land filled pier at the south end of Seattle’s waterfront. That much land could be used for a variety of purposes. One idea is to create a mixed-income housing development for as many as 8,000 families.
2) An innovative idea for Terminal 46, which is currently a container-ship transfer station, is to provide temporary or transitional housing for low-income citizens. Done in New York and London, this use would allow the Port of Seattle to re-claim the land for shipping purposes if greater need arises.
3) Terminal 46 is also an opportunity to restore some of the natural environment that was destroyed as Seattle grew. Estuaries and islands could be created to provide wildlife habitat for fish and fowl, as well as recreation for people.
4) Tearing down the Alaskan Way Viaduct and digging a cut-and-cover tunnel will generate thousands of tons of rubble. An easy and effective solution to disposing of the waste is to recycle it into a grass-covered hill on Pier 46.
5) Like Mount Rainier, Seattle Center and the sports stadiums, Seattle’s Waterfront is a regional amenity. Residents of the Northwest and visitors alike will appreciate the new Waterfront if it’s authentic to the spirit and nature of Seattle. The Puget Sound ferry system is the largest in North America. Finding ways to highlight the ferries is one way to make sure the Waterfront is true to the region.