Agency offers new plan for Alaskan Way Viaduct

SEATTLE – Some state Department of Transportation designers have come up with a new idea for replacing the city’s crumbling Alaskan Way Viaduct: a bridge along the waterfront.

The price tag: about $2.5 billion, roughly what it would cost to replace the double-decker highway and about $1 billion less than a tunnel the city wants.

“This is a very early concept, slightly beyond the cartoon stage,” said David Dye, the state’s viaduct project manager.

Dye’s design team came up with the idea for the “cable-stay” bridge after the state realized it may only have enough money to rebuild the viaduct.

A cable-stay bridge has taut wires that reach directly from the towers to the road deck. Preliminary plans call for the bridge to be 80 feet high, supported by 250-foot columns.

The plan could face stiff opposition from Seattle Mayor Greg Nickels. His spokesman, Marianne Bichsel, said the city is focused on “the preferred option, which is the tunnel.” Doug MacDonald, chief of the state Transportation Department, said the bridge idea has not gotten very far at his agency. “Out-of-the-box thinking is a virtue, but at the end of the day a good plan requires more than a creative eye. This was generated from a couple of WSDOT designers working with colored ink and napkins.”

Nonetheless, Dye said it has its advantages, like maintaining a view of the waterfront for motorists. It could be built with the existing viaduct in place, it would be quieter on the waterfront, and it would open up the area to more light.