In the 1960s the Washington State Department of Transportation (WSDOT) began construction of the R.H. Thomson Expressway, a 15-mile freeway from the Duwamish River in Seattle to Bothell. Several freeway ramps were built on the western shore of Lake Washington, intended to connect Highway 520 to the R. H. Thomson Expressway. The plan would have cut through wide swaths through Seattle's Washington Park Arboretum and the predominantly-black Central District, and was halted by opposition from citizen activists. By the early 1970s the project was abandoned, leaving incomplete ramps dubbed the "Ramps to Nowhere," which then became a recreation spot for kayakers, canoers, swimmers, and picnickers.

This image of fun-seekers was taken at the Ramps to Nowhere, about the time that WSDOT ended their interest in the R.H. Thomson Expressway. In 2018 the ramps were demolished by WSDOT during improvements made to the area after construction was completed in 2016 of the new 520 floating bridge.

Caption information source: "Holding pattern at Arboretum to end," The Seattle Times, June 30, 1975, p. 31.
Caption information source: "The Ramps to Nowhere: Going, but not quite gone," retrieved from https://seattle.curbed.com/2017/4/11/15251754/ramps-to-nowhere-demolition