(The Center Square) – The final segment of Seattle’s waterfront revitalization has started construction six years after the Alaskan Way Viaduct was demolished in early 2019.
The Bell Street Improvements project broke ground on Tuesday. The project will improve connections from the Belltown neighborhood to the waterfront in the 1st Avenue – Elliott Avenue segment.
More specifically, the Bell Street Improvements project will construct a two-way protected lane, remove a travel lane, and widen sidewalks in order to calm the flow of traffic along Bell Street.
“The new and improved pedestrian and bicycle connections between Belltown and the waterfront are crucial to increasing foot-traffic, providing benefits for community members and local businesses, and creating safer routes for cyclists traveling throughout downtown,” Seattle Mayor Bruce Harrell said in a statement on Tuesday. “We are one step closer to realizing our vision of our waterfront and a stronger downtown.”
This project totals $5.2 million, or less than 1% of the total $806 million funded for the Waterfront Park project, which is funded through a combination of public and private investments, with the city contributing $320 million.
A portion of funding for the waterfront revitalization comes from property owners within the Waterfront Lid boundary area. The property owners’ portion of the funds are based on the “special benefit” they receive from those improvements.
The tax is an annual assessment payment based on a $1,000 assessment paid over 20 years at a 3.8% interest rate. According to the Waterfront Seattle website, the total payment from 2022 through 2041 would be approximately $1,586 based on a $1,000 assessment for a property owner within the district.
The Bell Street Improvements project construction is expected to be completed in early summer.
The total Waterfront Seattle Revitalization project was originally projected to finish in late 2023. However, that was delayed due to the COVID-19 pandemic and a lack of concrete delivery availability between December 2021 and April 2022 as a result of a concrete strike in King County, according to Waterfront Seattle.
