March 11, 2021

Construction to begin on new Union Street bridge

Rendering provided by city of Seattle and James Corner Field Operations [enlarge]

The new bridge will provide an accessible connection to the waterfront.

The city of Seattle is expected to begin building as early as Monday a new pedestrian bridge, stairway and elevator on Union Street connecting Western Avenue and Alaskan Way in downtown.

Schemata Workshop is the primary architect on the project, which is slated to open in late 2022. Walsh Construction is the contractor.

In press materials, the city said the new bridge will provide an accessible connection to the waterfront with a wider walkway, stairway and an elevator. Pedestrian lighting will be integrated in the railings of the bridge and stairs, underneath the bridge deck and within the elevator.

The city is constructing improvements to key east-west streets to strengthen connections between downtown and the waterfront as part of its ongoing $737 million revamp of the Seattle central waterfront.

The Union Street project will feature artwork by Seattle artist Norie Sato. Inspired by the natural environment, her artwork will reflect the flora and fauna found on the waterfront and bring attention to the shoreline ecology that persists in the midst of the waterfront's built infrastructure. Her artwork at Union Street will include a steel abstracted fern frond framing the passageway, and a screen on the bridge that layers abstracted imagery of seagull wings over that of a fern.

The project will also involve improvements to the Western Avenue intersection.

The existing pedestrian stairway at Union Street will be closed when construction starts to allow the new bridge to be built. There will be pedestrian detours in place at the University Street Hillclimb and the Pike Street Hillclimb, the city said.

Work is scheduled for 7 a.m. to 5 p.m. weekdays, with occasional overnight and weekend work.

Loading docks on Union Street will be temporarily closed for part of the construction.