The city of Seattle, Washington, United States, has multiple bridges that are significant due to their function, historical status, or engineering. Bridges are needed to cross the city's waterways and hilly topography. [1] Twelve bridges have been granted historical status by the city, federal government, or both. Seattle also has some of the only permanent floating pontoon bridges in the world. [2]
Original crossings over Seattle's mudflats were typically supported by timber piles. Lake Washington and Puget Sound are to the east and west of the city, respectively. They connect via a series of canals and Lake Union that are collectively known as the Lake Washington Ship Canal. [3] The four double-leaf bascule bridges crossing the Ship Canal are the oldest still used in the city, having opened between 1917 and 1930. The easternmost—the Montlake and University bridges—connect neighborhoods south of the canal to the University District. The Fremont Bridge crosses the center of the canal and is one of the most often raised drawbridges in the world due to its clearance over the water of only 30 feet (9.1 m). [4] The westernmost crossing of the ship canal is the Ballard Bridge. [5]
Floating bridges carry Interstate 90 and State Route 520 across Lake Washington to the Eastside suburbs. [6] The SR 520 Albert D. Rosellini Evergreen Point Floating Bridge, which opened in 2016 as the replacement for another floating bridge at the same site, [7] [8] is the longest floating bridge in the world. [9] [10] The Lacey V. Murrow Memorial Bridge had previously been replaced after the original span sunk in 1990 when water filled an open maintenance hatch during refurbishing. Age and the 2001 Nisqually earthquake have damaged the several other spans. The risk of future earthquakes has increased the need to replace already deteriorated bridges in the city, such as the Alaskan Way Viaduct (removal began in January 2019) and the Magnolia Bridge. [11] [12]
West Seattle is on a peninsula separated from downtown by the Duwamish River. The West Seattle Bridge is the primary roadway crossing the river. [13] The neighborhood's Spokane Street Bridge is the world's first and only hydraulically operated concrete double-leaf swing bridge. [14]
Key: Year opened |
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*: Listed in the National Register of Historic Places [15] |
†: Listed as a city landmark [16] |
Name (Alternative names in parentheses) | Image | Year opened | Year closed | Type | Length | Spanned | Carried | Replacement | Coordinates |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Alaskan Way Viaduct | ![]() | 1953 [41] | 2019 [41] | Viaduct | 11,088 ft (3,380 m) [42] | Alaskan Way | State Route 99 | SR 99 Tunnel [41] | 47°36′14″N122°20′18″W / 47.6040°N 122.3382°W |
Fairview Avenue North Bridge | 1948 (west) 1963 (east) [43] | 2019 [44] | Timber-pile bridge [45] | mudflats in Lake Union [44] | Fairview Avenue N [45] | Fairview Avenue N [45] | 47°37′52″N122°19′40″W / 47.6312°N 122.3278°W | ||
Fremont Bridge (c. 1891) | 1890 [46] | 1911 [47] | Trestle [46] | Fremont Cut [46] | Road connecting Fremont Avenue N and 4th Avenue N | Fremont Bridge (1911) [46] | 47°38′51″N122°20′59″W / 47.6475°N 122.3497°W | ||
Fremont Bridge (1911) | 1911 [46] | 1914 [47] | Trestle | Fremont Cut [46] | Road connecting Fremont Avenue N and 4th Avenue N | Fremont Bridge [46] | 47°38′51″N122°20′59″W / 47.6475°N 122.3497°W | ||
Governor Albert D. Rosellini Bridge—Evergreen Point (Evergreen Point Floating Bridge, 520 Bridge) | ![]() | 1963 [22] | 2016 [48] | Floating pontoon | 7,578 ft (2,310 m) [22] | Lake Washington | State Route 520 | Evergreen Point Floating Bridge (2016) [48] | 47°38′26″N122°15′39″W / 47.6405°N 122.2609°W |
Grant Street Bridge | ![]() | 1886 [49] | c. 1910 | Timber-pile bridge | 2,640 ft (805 m) or 5,280 ft (1,609 m) [50] [51] | Duwamish River and Elliott Bay mudflats [52] | Primary thoroughfare from S Jackson Street to South Seattle [49] | Seattle Boulevard (later Airport Way S) [49] | |
Grant Street Electric Railway Bridge | ![]() | before 1891 | ? | Wooden truss bridge | Duwamish River | Grant Street Electric Railway | South Park Bridge | 47°18′53″N122°11′06″W / 47.3146°N 122.1851°W | |
Latona Street Bridge | 1891 [lower-alpha 5] | 1919 | Primarily cantilevered timber [53] | 100 ft (30 m) [53] | Narrow point of north west Lake Union [53] | Seattle Electric Company (original) General traffic (after completion of second span) [53] | University Bridge [53] | 47°39′09″N122°20′32″W / 47.6525°N 122.3421°W | |
Post Avenue Bridge [54] | 1890 [55] | 2017 [lower-alpha 6] | Timber-pile bridge [55] | 240 ft (73 m) [54] | Elliott Bay waterfront [55] | Post Avenue | Post Avenue | 47°36′12″N122°20′10″W / 47.6032°N 122.3362°W | |
South Park Bridge | ![]() | 1931 | 2010 | Bascule | 1,285 ft (392 m) | Duwamish River | 14th/16th Avenue S | New South Park Bridge | 47°31′45″N122°18′50″W / 47.5293°N 122.314°W |
Stone Way Bridge | ![]() | 1911 | 1918 | Trestle | 2,700 ft (823 m) | Lake Union | Stone Way | Fremont Bridge | 47°38′47″N122°20′37″W / 47.6463°N 122.3437°W |
West Wheeler Street Bridge | ![]() | before 1914 | 1924 | Trestle | mudflats in Interbay | W Wheeler Street, and Lawton Way (now W Armory Way) on a diagonal | Magnolia Bridge | 47°38′27″N122°22′53″W / 47.6408°N 122.3813°W | |
West Seattle Bridge [56] c. 1900 | c. 1900 | c. 1911 | "swinging gate" | Duwamish River | (unnamed, future route of Spokane Street); water main | West Seattle Bridge c. 1911 | |||
West Seattle Bridge [56] c. 1911 (Spokane Street Bridge) [57] [58] | ![]() | c. 1911 [57] | c. 1918 [58] | Swing bridge | Duwamish West Waterway | Spokane Street; water main | West Seattle Bridge c. 1918 | ||
West Seattle Bridge c. 1918 [56] (Spokane Street Bridge) [58] | ![]() | c. 1918 [58] | 1924 | Swing bridge | Duwamish West Waterway | Spokane Street | West Seattle Bridge (1924) | ||
West Spokane Street Bridge (1924) (Bridge No. 1; North Bridge; westbound traffic after 1930) [56] | ![]() | 1924 | 1978 | Bascule | Duwamish West Waterway | Spokane Street | West Seattle Bridge (1984) and Spokane Street Bridge | ||
West Spokane Street Bridge (1930) (Bridge No. 2; South Bridge; eastbound traffic) [59] | 1930 | 1989 | Bascule | Duwamish West Waterway | Spokane Street | West Seattle Bridge (1984) and Spokane Street Bridge |
Lake Washington is a large freshwater lake adjacent to the city of Seattle, Washington, United States. It is the largest lake in King County and the second largest natural lake in the state of Washington, after Lake Chelan. It borders the cities of Seattle on the west, Bellevue and Kirkland on the east, Renton on the south, and Kenmore on the north, and encloses Mercer Island. The lake is fed by the Sammamish River at its north end and the Cedar River at its south.
Salmon Bay is a portion of the Lake Washington Ship Canal, which passes through the city of Seattle, linking Lake Washington to Puget Sound, lying west of the Fremont Cut. It is the westernmost section of the canal and empties into Puget Sound's Shilshole Bay. Because of the Hiram M. Chittenden Locks, the smaller, western half of the bay is salt water, and the eastern half is fresh water.
Portage Bay is a body of water, often thought of as the eastern arm of Lake Union, that forms a part of the Lake Washington Ship Canal in Seattle, Washington.
State Route 520 (SR 520) is a state highway and freeway in the Seattle metropolitan area, part of the U.S. state of Washington. It runs 13 miles (21 km) from Seattle in the west to Redmond in the east. The freeway connects Seattle to the Eastside region of King County via the Evergreen Point Floating Bridge on Lake Washington. SR 520 intersects several state highways, including Interstate 5 (I-5) in Seattle, I-405 in Bellevue, and SR 202 in Redmond.
The Evergreen Point Floating Bridge, officially the Governor Albert D. Rosellini Bridge, and commonly called the SR 520 Bridge or 520 Bridge, was a floating bridge in the U.S. state of Washington that carried State Route 520 across Lake Washington, connecting Medina with the Montlake/Union Bay district of Seattle.
The Lacey V. Murrow Memorial Bridge is a floating bridge in the Seattle metropolitan area of the U.S. state of Washington. It is one of the Interstate 90 floating bridges that carries the eastbound lanes of Interstate 90 across Lake Washington from Seattle to Mercer Island. Westbound traffic is carried by the adjacent Homer M. Hadley Memorial Bridge.
The Fremont Bridge is a double-leaf bascule bridge that spans the Fremont Cut in Seattle, Washington. The bridge, which connects Fremont Avenue North and 4th Avenue North, connects the neighborhoods of Fremont and Queen Anne.
The Montlake Bridge is a double-leaf bascule bridge that carries State Route 513 over Seattle's Montlake Cut—part of the Lake Washington Ship Canal—connecting Montlake and the University District.
The Aurora Bridge is a cantilever and truss bridge in Seattle, Washington, United States. It carries State Route 99 over the west end of Seattle's Lake Union and connects Queen Anne and Fremont. The bridge is located just east of the Fremont Cut, which itself is spanned by the Fremont Bridge.
State Route 513 (SR 513) is a 3.35-mile-long (5.39 km) state highway in the U.S. state of Washington, located entirely within the city of Seattle in King County. The highway travels north as Montlake Boulevard from an interchange with SR 520 and over the Montlake Bridge to the University of Washington campus in the University District. SR 513 continues past University Village before it turns northeast onto Sand Point Way and ends at the entrance to Magnuson Park in the Sand Point neighborhood.
State Route 104 (SR 104) is a 31.75-mile-long (51.10 km) state highway in the U.S. state of Washington, serving four counties: Jefferson on the Olympic Peninsula, Kitsap on the Kitsap Peninsula, and Snohomish and King in the Puget Sound region. It begins south of Discovery Bay at U.S. Route 101 (US 101) and crosses the Hood Canal Bridge over Hood Canal to the terminus of SR 3 near Port Gamble. SR 104 continues southeast onto the Edmonds–Kingston Ferry to cross the Puget Sound and intersects SR 99 and Interstate 5 (I-5) before ending at SR 522 in Lake Forest Park. SR 104 also has a short spur route that connects the highway to SR 99 at an at-grade signal on the Snohomish–King county line.
The Hood Canal Bridge is a floating bridge in the northwest United States, located in western Washington. It carries State Route 104 across Hood Canal in Puget Sound and connects the Olympic and Kitsap Peninsulas. At 7,869 feet in length, it is the longest floating bridge in the world located in a saltwater tidal basin, and the third longest floating bridge overall. It opened in 1961 and was the second concrete floating bridge constructed in Washington. Since that time, it has become a vital link for local residents, freight haulers, commuters, and recreational travelers. The convenience it provides has had a major impact on economic development, especially in eastern Jefferson County.
The Third Lake Washington Bridge, officially the Homer M. Hadley Memorial Bridge, is a floating bridge in the Seattle metropolitan area of the U.S. state of Washington. It is one of the Interstate 90 floating bridges, carrying the westbound lanes of Interstate 90 across Lake Washington between Mercer Island and Seattle. The floating bridge is the fifth-longest of its kind in the world, at 5,811 feet.
Interstate 405 (I-405) is a north–south auxiliary Interstate Highway serving the Seattle region of Washington, United States. It bypasses Seattle east of Lake Washington, traveling through the Eastside area of King and Snohomish counties, providing an alternate route to I-5. The 30-mile (48 km) freeway serves the cities of Renton, Bellevue, Kirkland, and Bothell. I-405 terminates at I-5 in Tukwila and Lynnwood, and also intersects several major highways, including SR 167, I-90, SR 520, and SR 522.
The Washington State Department of Transportation is a governmental agency that constructs, maintains, and regulates the use of transportation infrastructure in the U.S. state of Washington. Established in 1905, it is led by a secretary and overseen by the governor. WSDOT is responsible for more than 20,000 lane-miles of roadway, nearly 3,000 vehicular bridges and 524 other structures. This infrastructure includes rail lines, state highways, state ferries and state airports.
Good to Go, stylized as GoodToGo!, is the electronic toll collection program managed by the Washington State Department of Transportation on all current toll and future projects in the U.S. state of Washington. Regular Good to Go customers may set up an account from which tolls are automically deducted. Vehicles that are not linked to an account are photographed and a toll bill is sent to the registered owner by U.S. mail.
Interstate 5 (I-5) is an Interstate Highway on the West Coast of the United States that serves as the region's primary north–south route. It spans 277 miles (446 km) across the state of Washington, from the Oregon state border at Vancouver, through the Puget Sound region, to the Canadian border at Blaine. Within the Seattle metropolitan area, the freeway connects the cities of Tacoma, Seattle, and Everett.
The State Route 99 tunnel, also known as the Alaskan Way Viaduct replacement tunnel, is a bored highway tunnel in the city of Seattle, Washington, United States. The 2-mile (3.2 km), double-decker tunnel carries a section of State Route 99 (SR 99) under Downtown Seattle from SoDo in the south to South Lake Union in the north.
The Evergreen Point Floating Bridge, also known as the 520 Bridge and officially the Governor Albert D. Rosellini Bridge, carries Washington State Route 520 across Lake Washington from Seattle to its eastern suburbs. The 7,710-foot-long (2,350 m) floating span is the longest floating bridge in the world, as well as the world's widest measuring 116 feet (35 m) at its midpoint.
Westlake Avenue is a major street in Seattle, Washington, connecting Downtown Seattle to the neighborhoods of South Lake Union, Westlake and northeastern Queen Anne. The street runs north–south along the west side of Lake Union for 2.5 miles (4.0 km) from McGraw Square to the Fremont Bridge.
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value (help)[A city council bill] authorizes the Board of Public Works to remove the old Spokane Street Bridge and appropriates $1500 for the work.