Viaduct views return with Seattle's new Overlook Walk

by Brangien Davis



I’ll be the first to admit: I held a torch for the Alaskan Way Viaduct. Yes, it was sinking and seismically suspect and, sure, I would hold my breath whenever I drove along the lower deck. And yet.

During its final decade or so, the hulking concrete eyesore (dubbed “a horrible thing” by Seattle World’s Fair architect Paul Thiry) seemed to represent the last vestige of an older, punkier Seattle — one less hellbent on becoming a “world-class city.” It put the brutal in Brutalist architecture, but it was a city icon of sorts. Plus: those unbeatable Viaduct views.

“Nobody misses the Viaduct, but they miss the views from the Viaduct,” said the Office of the Waterfront’s Angela Brady at a recent press tour of the new Overlook Walk. A key component of the $806 million Waterfront Park renovation, this pleasingly curvy and heavily planted pedestrian pathway connects Pike Place Market with the Seattle Waterfront. It opens on Friday, Oct. 4 with a public celebration starting at 4:30 p.m.

As the tour stepped off, Brady told our group we were standing at exactly the same elevation of the upper deck of the Viaduct. And whaddya know, the views of Elliott Bay and the Olympic Mountains are easier to enjoy from a contoured bench than a moving car.

https://www.cascadepbs.org/culture/2024/10/artsea-viaduct-views-return-seattles-new-overlook-walk