The Alaskan Way Viaduct was an elevated highway in Seattle which was completed in 1966 after 16 years of construction and decades of planning. The double-decked highway ran along the Elliott Bay waterfront above the surface street, Alaskan Way, following previously existing railroad lines. The viaduct provided Seattle with its first bypass route around the downtown business district. The viaduct was damaged in the 2001 Nisqually earthquake and was replaced by a tunnel in 2019.

This image shows the underside of the Alaskan Way viaduct roadway. To the far left, one can see the two levels of the structure. Cars and trucks park beneath the viaduct. The three-story brick building to the right was built around 1900, during Seattle’s prosperous Gold Rush era. On the ground floor, the Puget Sound Hardware Company sold supplies to prospectors, who may have stayed the night upstairs in The Boston Hotel. The building, at 76 South Main Street, still stands as of 2026.

Caption information source: Seattle Department of Neighborhoods: Seattle Historical Sites, Summary for 76 S Main ST S / Parcel ID 52347800095 / Inv #
https://web.seattle.gov/DPD/HistoricalSite/QueryResult.aspx?ID=707135696. Retrieved June 12, 2026.