Major truck traffic expected for downtown Seattle convention center expansion
Apr 6, 2016, 9:53 PM | Updated: May 6, 2016, 9:54 pm
The $1.4 billion expansion to the Washington State Convention Center will bring tens of thousands of truck trips in and around downtown Seattle, close to Capitol Hill and onto I-5.
The three-block site for the addition is bounded by Howell Street on the north, Boren Avenue on the east, I-5 on the southeast, Pine Street on the south and Ninth Avenue on the west.
Olive Way bisects the three-block site area in an east-west direction and Terry Avenue bisects the two north parcels.
The largest parcel in the site is currently occupied by Metro Transit’s Convention Place Station, which will eventually be vacated, but is expected to continue to operate at least through September 2018.
Starting next year, trucks will make 57,400 round trips to remove what is excavated from the site, according to a draft environmental impact study. That’s about 20 trucks per hour.
The foundation pour will require an estimated 34,000 round trips, 6,000 trips for steel erection and 30,000 to 40,000 trips for post-steel construction. Overall the project could mean as many as 137,000 truck trips in and around downtown.
Construction is set to start next year and go through 2020.
