SEATTLE — On Wednesday, Seattle City Council's Public Assets & Homelessness Committee received a briefing on a resolution that would direct city departments to work with state and federal agencies on potential projects to build a lid over parts of Interstate 5.
While the highway connects communities up and down I-5, advocates say it divides some neighborhoods, and argue that a lid would reunite them while providing more open space, pedestrian-friendly connectors and environmental benefits. The city is examining how feasible it would be, what it would cost and what partners would be necessary to bring projects to fruition.
The council will wait for staff to complete more conversations with WSDOT before voting the resolution forward.
"What is currently the air above these concrete canyons that are used for vehicles to pass through the heart of our city, could be space that is used to reunite the community, it could be used for amenities, it could be used for the new social housing PDA to have a portion of the real estate," Committee Chair Andrew Lewis said. "There are all sorts of potential partnerships that could be entered into in this area, but we don't really start until we kick it off with a resolution."
The city says efforts to build a lid ramped up in 2011, and the Convention Center funded a study in 2018. In 2020, the results of a preliminary feasibility study were released. According to the study, a lid is feasible, though challenging. The study says the more it has to hold up, the more expensive it would be. The study detailed other current lids around the country and examined issues such as seismic safety and environmental effects. It found that hills and on/off ramps may pose some extra challenges.
If the full council approves the resolution, the Office of Planning and Community Development and SDOT would be directed to begin working with outside agencies to form partnerships and work on getting lid work put into future projects along I-5.