Seattle May Not Need Alaskan Way Viaduct

Seattle finds out that closing their major highway doesn't result in traffic chaos. Maybe closing another one - the Alaskan Way Viaduct - permanently, as some citizens would like to see, is more feasible that some would have us believe.

1 minute read

August 17, 2007, 12:00 PM PDT

By Nate Berg

"Every time a highway is closed for repairs or due to damage - such as the "Maze Meltdown" in San Francisco, in which a major off-ramp which carries over 200,000 vehicles per day was destroyed; or the recent tragedy in Minneapolis; and now the closure of Interstate 5 in Seattle - officials predict "gridlock" and "traffic chaos". However, this prediction rarely comes true, as Seattle is finding out this week. People are getting around just fine despite the closure of their major freeway. Perhaps closing another downtown Seattle freeway permanently - the Alaskan Way Viaduct - as some citizens would like to see, isn't as crazy a notion as many think."

Thanks to Kamala Rao

FULL STORY: I-5 closure shows we're adaptable

Thursday, August 16, 2007 in The Seattle Post-Intelligencer

Transportation Washington

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