Seattle’s Waterfront Park hits another milestone

A project consultant estimates that Seattle’s Waterfront Park could attract up to 20 million visitors annually, with around 90,000 daily during peak summer periods. Completion of the $70 million Overlook Walk is a big part of that.

The centerpiece of Seattle’s new central waterfront, the Walk will open on Oct. 4. It was designed to bridge over Alaskan Way, avoiding street crossings.

Spanning the nearly 100-foot vertical gap between Pike Place Market and the new park promenade on Elliott Bay, Overlook Walk is an elevated, 1-plus-acre public space offering 360-degree views of the downtown skyline, stadiums, Olympic Mountains, and Mount Rainier.

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According to the Puget Sound Business Journal, construction of the Overlook Walk began just over two years ago. Its completion fulfills a long-standing desire for an accessible route to the waterfront. Engineered by Magnusson Klemencic Associates, Overlook Walk consists of two bridges designed to appear as one.

Seventeen concrete columns support the structure, and 29 precast girders—some up to 65 feet long and weighing 105,000 pounds—support the Bluff Walk, which connects to the MarketFront addition at Pike Place.

Nearly 32 miles of post-tension steel strands reinforce Overlook Walk, which houses the new Ocean Pavilion and is topped with 75 trees and over 9,000 native plants.

Designed by James Corner Field Operations and the Miller Hull Partnership, and built by Turner Construction, Overlook Walk will feature new concessionaire spaces for local small businesses, expected to open in 2025 along with the rest of the 20-acre Waterfront Park.

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“This once-in-a-generation transformation represents a powerful reconnection of space and people, as visitors, residents, workers, and families will enjoy seamless connections between downtown, Pike Place Market, and the entire Waterfront Park – the entryway to our region,” Mayor Bruce Harrell said in a news release.

Constructing such a large structure in a seismic zone required installing 17 drilled shafts up to 9 feet in diameter and nearly 70 feet deep.

Replacing the Alaskan Way Viaduct, Overlook Walk features gradual slopes, places to linger, and new elevators, providing a direct pedestrian connection to the water and a significant improvement over the steep, hard-to-find Pike Street Hill Climb.

Bill Kaczaraba is a content editor at MyNorthwest. You can read his stories here. Follow Bill on X, formerly known as Twitter, here and email him here.