SEATTLE — Contractors began demolishing the Seneca Street off-ramp to the Alaskan Way Viaduct on Wednesday.
It’s the third of four viaduct ramps that crews have started demolishing, following work on the Columbia Street and Western Avenue ramps. The Elliott Street on-ramp won’t be demolished until June.
Workers will begin on the Seneca Street ramp’s west end that’s connected to the viaduct and move east towards First Avenue. Crews will use a hoe ram to break up the roadway and a saw and crane to remove girders and columns, according to the Washington State Department of Transportation.
There will be several road closures during construction. The intersection of Seneca Street and Western Avenue will close Tuesday at 4 a.m. for up to 20 days while crews remove the ramp above the intersection. The crosswalk across Seneca at that intersection will close Thursday at 7 a.m.
The ramp is expected to be fully removed by mid-June, and then site restoration work will begin, according to WSDOT. There will also be additional utility work where the ramp met First Avenue, which has not yet been scheduled.
Meanwhile, crews continue to demolish portions of the double-decker section of the viaduct along the waterfront. Work on sections at Union Street and the Aquarium were expected to begin mid-May, according to WSDOT’s demolition tracker.
Watch demolition work on our viaduct cam, which updates every five minutes. App users, click here.
