Hoffman Construction Company started work this summer on Overlook Walk, a $70 million project to connect Pike Place Market and the Seattle Aquarium.
(Waterfront Seattle photo)
Construction crews from Hoffman Construction Company have started work on a major piece of infrastructure at an iconic Seattle landmark.
Overlook Walk — a pedestrian bridge that will connect Pike Place Market and the Seattle Aquarium — has started to take shape as construction has commenced on the $70 million endeavor.
The pathway is a critical part of the Waterfront Seattle rebuild and is expected to be completed by 2025. Officials expect a tower crane to be erected in August for the project.
The bridge will include accessible walking paths, slopes and a new elevator in addition to stairs, according to the Office of the Waterfront, which said the space will serve as an "elevated park" with terraced landscaping, native plants, expansive Elliott Bay views, amphitheater-style seats for concerts and a new cafe, plus slides and other "play elements" for children.
The pathway also will include enclosed building spaces for waterfront operations management, cultural and educational events and vendors. Construction crews will combine major civil transportation components with traditional vertical building elements.
Hoffman is constructing this heavy-civil project in close coordination with Turner Construction, the general contractor on the Seattle Aquarium.
Currently, the project team is picking and tripping column rebar cages for the new public pathway, which spans over the new Alaskan Way roadway.
"Overlook Walk is a new public pathway connecting the waterfront to Pike Place Market and Seattle's urban core," said Hoffman Construction Company. "The pedestrian bridge over the new Alaskan Way roadway will provide elevated views, new open space and a safe and accessible connection between the market to the new Seattle Aquarium Ocean Pavilion and Elliott Bay."
Angela Brady, director of the Waterfront Seattle Program, said, "This new, elevated park will provide plenty of public open space for taking in the gorgeous views of Elliott Bay that our locals know and love and, once complete, it's sure to become one of the city's most celebrated locations. Overlook Walk is a focal point for the overall waterfront improvements program and we are excited to share another major milestone towards the completion of a new and improved waterfront for all."
According to the Daily Journal of Commerce, the project's design team includes James Corner Field Operations, Miller Hull, Land Morphology, Dragonfly, MKA, Dark Light, Jacobs, Shannon & Wilson, Greenbusch, WSP and Green Facades. James Corner Field Operations is the lead urban design and landscape architecture firm, with Land Morphology supporting the landscape plantings design work.
This pathway project is part of the larger reworked waterfront project, which cost $756 million and will stretch from Pioneer Square to Belltown, which will include approximately 20 acres of new public spaces, including bike paths, walkways and parks.
The city council voted in 2019 to contribute $34 million in real-estate excise tax revenue to the aquarium's $113 million new "Ocean Pavilion," which is what will pathway will connect to. The aquarium's plan for the building, scheduled to open in 2024, calls for a 325,000-gal. tank with sharks, stingrays and fish from the South Pacific.
As part of the overall Waterfront Seattle project, there are numerous construction milestones set for 2023:
- Construction of pedestrian improvements to some east/west streets in the heart of Pioneer Square, which will reconnect this historic neighborhood back to the city's gateway to the Puget Sound, is anticipated to begin in early 2023.
- Construction of improvements on Pike and Pine streets, which will set the stage for a safe and vibrant pedestrian experience from Capitol Hill to Pike Place Market, is anticipated to begin in early 2023.
- Marion Street Bridge expected to open in late 2023.
- Completion of improvements on east/west streets in Pioneer Square to be determined — under evaluation as a result of the concrete strike.
- Partner project Colman Dock construction is expected to be complete in late 2023.
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