First stage of Seattle's Alaskan Way Viaduct is completed on April 4, 1953.

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On April 4, 1953, the first stage of Seattle's Alaskan Way Viaduct is completed. The viaduct follows the former route of numerous railroad tracks that ran along the Seattle waterfront. It ends near Pioneer Square about at Dearborn Street. The final phase, called the Spokane Street Extension or simply the southern extension, will be completed in 1959 and will extend the viaduct from its previous southern end to just north of S Nevada Street.

From Railroad to Auto

Railroad interests monopolized Seattle's waterfront soon after the town was established. By the 1880s, the natural shoreline was extended by docks projecting into Elliott Bay. Although passenger traffic came and went through railroad stations in the heart of Seattle -- eventually settling into the southern edge of the commercial district -- Railroad Avenue was the primary artery for freight traffic.

After World War II, as Seattleites relied less and less on the railroads, these tracks on Railroad Avenue were relatively little used. They became bleak and dirty reminders of another transportation age, and occupied critical space perfect for what was at the time a new, streamlined corridor for automobiles.

The reinforced concrete viaduct now rises above the old Victorian waterfront tracks, a few of which remain in traces beneath the overpassing traffic.

Sources:
Paul Dorpat, Now and Then, Vol. 1, Stories 39, 49, 99 (Seattle: Tartu Publications, 1984); Walt Crowley and Heather MacIntosh, The Story of Union Station (Seattle: Sound Transit, 1999).
Note: This essay was revised slightly on August 22, 2007.

By Heather M. MacIntosh, September 29, 1999

This file made possible by:
Sound Transit
Washington State Department of Transportation (WSDOT)

Alaskan Way Viaduct, Seattle, 1960s
Postcard

Alaska Way Viaduct before official opening, Seattle, ca. 1954

Aerial view of Railroad Avenue, north of American Can Company, Seattle, October 18, 1934
Courtesy Seattle Municipal Archives