A Stroll Through Seattle's New Waterfront S99 Tunnel

This Farewell Viaduct sign greeted us as we got close to the entrance of the new tunnel that will route cars under ground below the Alaskan Way along Seattle's waterfront.  When we got out at the south end (we were in the upper tunnel which is the southbound tunnel) we saw this part of the viaduct that they've already started to remove.

So, today, before cars go through, the public was invited to walk through the southbound tunnel.  Other people chose to walk along the viaduct.  Here are some pictures with minimum comment.



We entered the tunnel just south of the Space Needle.

While we were in the tunnel I estimated there were about 50 people in a 100 foot section on average, which, if my in my head math was accurate came out to roughly 16,000 people in the 2 mile tunnel.  That's a rough, rough estimate.  It was mostly downhill, until the end when we were coming back up to the surface near the Mariners Stadium.





Now and then there were signs for us pre-car pedestrians to tell us where we were.

They do a little better if you click on them to enlarge and focus.

And signs for the vehicles that will take over this space pretty soon.

Here's looking back after we exited the tunnel, two miles later.  

And here's the northbound entrance (on the right) where the southbound tunnel exits (where the people are walking out.)




So that was part of the day.  In the morning I took my granddaughter to Home Depot for one of their monthly crafts projects for kids, which she's really into.  She got to hammer nails, screw in a screw, and paint a Valentine's box.