Save the Alaskan Way Viaduct

One of the least appealing parts of Seattle is the ongoing commercialization of the place. Of course this is happening everywhere. And I am hardly calling for the razing of downtown Seattle so no one can make money. But I am disturbed over recent news concerning the Alaskan Way Viaduct.

Seattle used to be a working town. Even when I was growing up in the 1980s, Seattle had a reputation as a gray, drab, dull, and even dirty logging and port town. From the beginning of its history in the 1850s until the late 1980s or early 1990s, Seattle had no national cache, and certainly nothing comparable to what San Francisco has had since 1848. Because it was a working city, during the early 1950s, Seattle built the Alaskan Way Viaduct as a way to speed traffic and commerce through the city. The Viaduct is basically a big noisy road going along the waterfront. For the past 53 years, it has moved traffic around the clogged downtown streets of the city. To be fair, it was built at a time that American cities were beginning their great decline and the original building of the Viaduct showed no great love for the city. Rather, it was a functional structure meant to allow people to avoid downtown Seattle. But that does not mean it lacks historical value.

However, recent proposals to eliminate the Viaduct are gaining momentum. The Washington State Department of Transportation, in conjunction with the feds and the city, wants to tear it down and replace it with an underground tunnel. They claim that this is coming out of the earthquake risk that Seattle faces and the prohibitive cost of shoring up this elevated highway. These are serious concerns. We should not underestimate the danger that Northwestern cities face from earthquakes. But there is another reason to tear down the Viaduct. It gets in the way of making money off the Seattle waterfront. Since it is both elevated and along the water, the Viaduct is the best place in the city for views of the Olympic Mountains. It is also free. The Viaduct gets in the way of the views from downtown office buildings and apartment towers, thus restricting the amount of money that can be charged for them. For a developer, nothing is worse than the idea that a view could be free. A line of sight is a commodity, to be hoarded and sold for dear prices. For years, the promoters of Seattle's downtown have hated this road. Now they are using the very real danger of a natural disaster to see their vision come true. The view from the road would be replaced by a blank wall. "Views would be gone for cars," said Deputy Mayor Tim Ceis. "People counting on views would be out of luck."

There are a few defenders of the old road. Some have looked to turn to the National Historic Preservation Act, hoping to get the road named to the National Register of Historic Places (which it certainly qualifies for) and thus very difficult to tear down. I can say from experience however that declaration of a structure to the Register far from guarantees its preservation. The People's Waterfront Coalition seems to be hopeful for revitalizing the area and claim to have a democratic vision for the waterfront, but they don't have any love for the Viaduct. Even if the waterfront is accessible to everyone, it still allows for developers to continue their stranglehold on Seattle's growth.

One great thing about the Viaduct is that it is a reminder of Seattle's industrial past. We need to remember that cities used to be places of work. Seattle played a vital role in building America. Literally, as it was a lumber town. The industrial past is increasingly hard to find in modern Seattle. The old Rainer brewery that was originially taken over by Tully's Coffee has now been sold to a developer to create live/work spaces for artists. Little if any lumber is milled in Seattle today. The warehouse district in south Seattle is seen as a blight, despite its absolutely necessary function in creating and moving products around the nation. Today, the best reminder of this past in Seattle might be wood carvings of salmon in upscale shopping malls. The Alaskan Way Viaduct is both a democratic structure (all you need is a car to get those views) and a reminder of Seattle's past. For me, the fate of the Viaduct comes down to this question--does egalitarianism and unsanitized history have a role to play in 21st century urban America?