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ALLIED ARTS :: WATERFRONT
Waterfront For All
Guidelines
Position Statement
The Waterfront For All Coalition supports plans to underground Highway 99 through Seattle’s Central Waterfront from the stadiums to the Battery Street Tunnel.
Design Principles
The following principles are intended to guide the design of the Seattle Waterfront. Decision-makers for the Viaduct and Seawall Replacement Project are strongly urged to meet these principles and consider them as criteria of plans for a Waterfront that will serve Seattle’s residents, visitors, and businesses well.
Free the Waterfront – Build a tunnel that replaces the damaged viaduct and in the central waterfront to allow the city to reconnect to Elliott Bay.
Authenticity – Create, preserve, and let evolve an authentic waterfront experience, mixing maritime businesses, public spaces, and commercial uses that avoid a Disneyesque “theming” of the waterfront.
Neighborhood Presence – Extend the character and vitality of the adjacent districts of Pioneer Square, West Edge, Pike Place Market and Belltown to the water’s, contributing different qualities in character along its length. The Waterfront should convey the presence of the sea, nearby islands and harbor activities.
Front Porch – Create Seattle’s front porch. Use architecture, landscape and urban design to create inviting public spaces--open space, loveable parks and plazas—that allow the Waterfront to achieve its civic and cultural potential as a place of great beauty that lifts the spirit of Seattleites.
Connect East and West – Reconnect the east-west grid with “green streets” for pedestrians, bikes, transit and cars from the Waterfront to connecting neighborhoods. Use the character and activities of these neighborhoods as inspiration for connecting pathways. New development should be permeable and have frequent pedestrian paths providing access from the neighborhoods to the Waterfront.
Feet and Bikes First – Provide increased capacity for pedestrians and cyclists on the Waterfront, minimize the visual impact of automobiles. Careful planning and design consideration can resolve potential conflicts among pedestrians, cyclists and cars/trucks. Establish the following in order of priority for the development of transportation alternatives:
- Pedestrians
- Bicyclists
- Public Transit/Trucks
- Automobiles
Flexible for the Future – Design spaces to be enduring and timeless, available for the use of many generations. The Waterfront should provide an environment able to adapt to changing social and economic needs. Build to high aesthetic and structural standards with durable materials and appropriate technologies that minimize energy use and encourage recycling.
Urban Ramps – No on and off ramps to SR 99 in the central waterfront.
Meet the Sound – Design the seawall so that it permits the maximum sense of human contact with the water and provides healthy habitat for sea life and salmon migration.
Maximize People-Carrying Capacity – Keep the number of motorized lanes minimal. Don’t expand transportation to fill the surface space. Provide convenient and safe access to frequent buses, streetcar and monorail.
Waterfront All Year – Provide opportunities for playing, walking and working on the Waterfront during each season of the year. Stimulate the senses through choice of materials, architecture, urban design and landscaping. Honor and restore our historical connection to the Waterfront--ensure that designs celebrate the life of Elliot Bay as a defining element of our city and inspire a renewed sense of connection and stewardship.
Economic Strength – The Waterfront should stimulate economic diversity and vitality and sustain its value through targeted use of public and private investment.
Boardwalking – Provide numerous public destinations and a wide mix of activities and services on the Waterfront such that all users will be encouraged to bring vitality to the Waterfront during the day and evening and throughout the year.
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