AASHTO Journal, 9 August 2013
The SR 99 Alaskan Way Viaduct Replacement Project received a boost this week after the Port of Seattle Commission approved $267.7 million for the project, solidifying a partnership with the Washington State Department of Transportation to fund the $3.1 billion project.
“We’re grateful to have such a strong partnership with the Port of Seattle,” said WSDOT Secretary Lynn Peterson in a statement. “The Port’s contribution is essential to our shared effort to build a new SR 99 corridor that keeps freight—and Washington’s economy—moving.”
The SR 99 Alaskan Way Viaduct Replacement Program encompasses more than 20 projects, including the SR 99 tunnel, and aims to improve freight mobility while replacing the viaduct. WSDOT is currently in the process of tunneling under downtown Seattle for the SR 99 tunnel, which will run the highway underground and reconnect the street grids at the ends of the tunnel, while removing the viaduct along Seattle’s waterfront, which is considered at risk from earthquakes.
“If Washington State is going to keep family-wage jobs, we’ve got to keep freight and goods moving throughout the region,” said Port Commissioner Bill Bryant. “That’s why the port helped pay for underpasses and overpasses in the Kent-Auburn valley, and why the Port of Seattle is fulfilling its commitment to help pay for a reconfigured SR 99 and tunnel.”
The SR 99 Alaskan Way Replacement Viaduct project is expected to be completed in 2015, which is when waterfront viaduct work begins and carries through 2019.
Additional information on the Alaska Way Viaduct Replacement Project is available here.