A 2018 concept of an I-5 lid (Images: Central Hills Triangle Collaborative)
The Seattle City Council land use committee will hold a public hearing Wednesday afternoon on a proposal to add support for efforts to build a downtown lid over I-5 to the city’s growth plan.
Council Bill 120462 would amend the Seattle 2035 Comprehensive Plan’s Growth Strategy and Transportation elements to “support the use of lids and other connections to rejoin neighborhoods across State Highways and Interstate 5,” according to a memorandum on the proposal.
CHS reported here in 2018 on the long-simmering hopes of eventually covering I-5 between Capitol Hill and downtown with a lid home to housing, park space, and more. Proponents of the new push to change the city’s growth plan say the proposal would also be important for neighborhoods in the south and north of the city where state highways bisect neighborhoods, adding traffic, pollution, and noise.
North Capitol Hill’s freeway lid will complement Montlake’s, but not until 2030
Meanwhile, work continues to build a new lid and transit plaza in Montlake as part of the 520 replacement project. Another 520 lid is planned at Roanoke.
The council bill and hearing comes as the city in the midst of a two-year process, mandated by state law, to update its comprehensive plan covering growth strategies and land use.
The council committee is scheduled to begin its meeting and public hearing at 2 PM Wednesday, November 30th. You can view the agenda and learn more here (PDF).
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This **cannot** be done fast enough.
Also, even more than these great projects, we in Washington and Seattle more specifically NEED TO START MOVING FASTER ON NEEDED INFRASTRUCTURE BUILDOUT.
I mean…the viaduct existed and an eyesore for nearly two f*cking decades after the Nisqually earthquake.
TOO LONG. MOVE FASTER.
Sound Transit is going to take the next f*cking century to build out the Link light rail system.
NOT ACCEPTABLE, MOVE FASTER.
The W. Seattle bridge will need replacing very soon as it’s structurally deficient, regardless of recent fixes. More: why is the Ballard-W. Seattle line of the Link expansion not being fast tracked?
NOT ACCEPTABLE MOVE FASTER.
The lidding of I-5? Very needed, it’s an absolute eyesore having this major freeway running through downtown, a freeway that was originally envisioned as being a cut-and-cover project, but (of course!) the cut part was done, the cover was abandoned as being too costly.
DON’T CARE, GET IT DONE, MOVE FASTER, WE DON’T HAVE THE NEXT 35 YEARS TO DEBATE THIS JUST DO IT.
FFS, Seattle. We need to get moving on so many of these projects, and yet we sit here and “study” them for ages and ages and ages and, for what? Well, for all those lucrative “studies” that connected consulting shops get to undertake, for me. Suckling at the teat like greedy little piglets.
DON’T CARE, SEATTLE, MOVE FASTER.
If you want these things then support a graduated income tax, corporate taxing, a progressive budget, etc. Don’t beg for improvements and expect magical realism. Looking for couch change after the good old boys raid the wallet tends to slow things down.
The state does not have a revenue problem. Revenue growth is far exceeding population growth.
For the life of me, I don’t understand the rationale behind the lid over 520/I-5 at 10th Ave E & E Roanoke St., which is being built for many millions of taxpayer dollars. I suppose noise control is one reason, but there aren’t that many residences in that immediate area. Yes, there will be a new park space there, but there is a PERFECTLY NICE park right across the street already (Roanoke Park)! I think this is a huge waste of money.
At least it’s the part of I-5 they actually might be able to lid. We had to deal with years of nonsense about trying to lid I-5 along SLU and Eastlake, even though I-5 there is built along a hillside and lidding something like that is impractical.
However, if they do build one and a bunch of buildings on top of it, the subduction quake that’s inevitably coming for Seattle will topple all of it and kill thousands. But have fun with this particular urbanist campaign, guys! Putting your egos ahead of practical reality always seems to work out great for you.