A 20-acre urban park now connects Seattle’s downtown to its world-class waterfront
DESIGNER
2025
Seattle’s downtown has a new front porch — a 20-acre urban park that redefines the city’s connection to its iconic waterfront. The shoreline is now a vibrant, welcoming space that celebrates Seattle’s culture, history and natural beauty.
With the completion of the Alaskan Way State Route 99 Tunnel in 2019, the city seized the opportunity to reimagine its waterfront — not just as a corridor for movement, but as a destination for people. This transformation is the result of a landmark effort led by the City of Seattle’s Office of the Waterfront, Civic Projects and Sound Transit.
“You look one direction and you can see the city’s skyline. Turn around, and you are met with the beauty of Elliott Bay, the Olympic Mountains to the right and Mount Rainier to the left,” said Paul Huston, HNTB program manager. “It’s breathtaking, and now the waterfront redevelopment opens up this clear view — this is the front porch Seattle has wanted for generations.”
Designing Seattle’s new front porch
Planning for the waterfront transformation began in 2009, launching a multiyear process that included extensive environmental reviews, a worldwide design competition and the input of more than 10,000 residents. The result: nearly 20 major projects valued at $1.2 billion that define one of the largest civic redevelopments in Seattle’s history.
The city’s Office of the Waterfront, Civic Projects and Sound Transit grouped nine of those projects into one construction management program, supported by a joint venture team, including HNTB, that began construction in 2018:
Alaskan Way and Elliott Way form a multimodal main corridor that reconnects Seattle’s waterfront with surrounding neighborhoods. Elliott Way creates a vital link to Belltown with vehicle lanes, protected bike lanes and wide sidewalks. Together, the two corridors enhance access to parks, businesses and public spaces while supporting economic vitality and sustainability with more than 1,000 new trees, over 100,000 new plantings and green stormwater infrastructure.
This elevated public park seamlessly links the downtown Seattle retail core and the Pike Place Market area to the waterfront, giving pedestrians a safe, scenic route above Alaskan Way. With sweeping views of Elliott Bay, Mount Rainier and the Olympic Mountains, it features inviting public plazas, terraced landscaping and playful spaces for all ages. The structure also connects directly to the Seattle Aquarium’s new Ocean Pavilion, creating an integrated civic and cultural experience.
This streetscape improvement project
enhances the multimodal connections between downtown and Capitol Hill, with wider sidewalks, new bike lanes, improved lighting, safer crosswalks, added seating and lush landscaping
Historic Pioneer Square connects to the waterfront through several blocks of upgraded streets and sidewalks, featuring vibrant landscaping, decorative bollards and brick pavers that reflect the neighborhood’s character.
This new pedestrian connection links downtown to the central waterfront with an accessible elevator, open stairway and integrated public art inspired by native ferns.
This connection serves thousands of daily ferry passengers traveling to and from Colman Dock, Seattle’s primary ferry terminal. The widened, modernized bridge improves accessibility with ramp and elevator access and connects seamlessly to the new Alaskan Way corridor, supporting more than 5 million annual users.
The new pier structure extends into Elliott Bay, featuring public event space, an aquatic-themed play area, landscaping and water features.
This expanded park corridor enhances the
Belltown neighborhood with additional lighting, lush landscaping and inviting public spaces adjacent to Pike Place Market.
This new public facility, adjacent to the centrally located Waterfront Park, features six private all-gender stalls, reflective of the architectural and landscaping themes of Elliott Way.
Before construction started on this program, the city built a new seawall to meet current seismic standards, protect public safety and act as the foundation for Seattle’s new waterfront.
“Together, our Waterfront Seattle projects represent the single most important transformational program in Seattle in 100 years,” said Angela Brady, PE, director of the City of Seattle’s Office of the Waterfront, Civic Projects and Sound Transit.
Recognizing the scale and complexity of the waterfront transformation, city leaders in 2018 adopted their first programmatic construction management approach to guide its delivery.
“They wanted experienced professionals working on downtown Seattle projects and major construction programs who they could trust and who could adapt across multiple complex projects constructed over many years,” Huston said. “The city wanted people with the right mindset who would serve as an extension of the city’s team — and HNTB delivered.”
The joint venture team colocated with the Office of the Waterfront, Civic Projects and Sound Transit, working seamlessly as one unified team to deliver one of the most logistically demanding urban infrastructure projects in Seattle’s history.
“We brought the right expertise at the right times over seven years,” Huston said. “Our field and office team could adapt and scale to meet changing needs, with many members cross-trained to fill multiple roles. That continuity provided efficiency, familiarity with all the important details and made a big difference in delivering this program.”
“Together, our Waterfront Seattle projects represent the single most important transformational program in Seattle in 100 years.”
Civic Projects and Sound Transit
“You look one direction and you can see the city’s skyline. Turn around, and you are met with the beauty of Elliott Bay, the Olympic Mountains to the right and Mount Rainier to the left. It’s breathtaking, and now the waterfront redevelopment opens up this clear view — this is the front porch Seattle has been missing for generations.”
Keeping the city moving
The seven-year construction program unfolded in multiple stages, with several projects overlapping in both schedule and location. At its peak, seven projects were underway simultaneously — amid the bustling activity of an operational ferry terminal, seasonal cruise ship arrivals that tripled tourist traffic, active utilities, ongoing private construction, waterfront businesses and daily residential life.
Throughout the construction phase, the city prioritized accessibility, integrating requirements into construction contracts to ensure pedestrians, cyclists and vehicles maintained access to the waterfront and one of the busiest ferry terminals in the nation.
“The new main corridor was being built alongside new buildings and parking garages,” said Brian Kittleson, HNTB construction engineer. “We coordinated closely with those private developers and held regular meetings with the city’s permitting agency to manage traffic routing, work impacts and detours — not just for our site, but across the entire area.”
Sustainable Seattle
The waterfront transformation includes:
- Salvaged Ekki wood from the old Alaskan Way seawall repurposed as handrails
- A restored 100-year-old pergola building now home to new businesses and art installations by local artists that celebrate Seattle’s heritage.
- 1,000 new trees
- 100,000+ new plants
- Natural stormwater treatment system filtering 95% of runoff
Puzzle solved through coordination
A particularly complex site within the program involved the convergence of three major projects: Overlook Walk, Alaskan and Elliott Ways and a public-private expansion of the Seattle Aquarium. Coordinating these overlapping work zones required close collaboration among contractors, city agencies and the community to manage shifting schedules, competing demands and evolving site conditions.
“When all those schedules moved around and changed, our construction management team was able to put the puzzle pieces back together in unique and creative ways to fulfill the goal of doing as much as possible in a short time while maintaining public access and mobility,” said Jessica Murphy, construction program manager of the City of Seattle’s Office of the Waterfront, Civic Projects and Sound Transit.
Throughout construction, proactive communication was vital.
“Having a team familiar with construction sequencing and the constraints of technically challenging projects was key,” Brady said. “This helped us translate technical details into clear information that residents and businesses could best understand, building trust and support.”
A waterfront for all
The transformation of Seattle’s waterfront is more than a construction success — it’s a civic reinvention. From better mobility and accessibility to vibrant public spaces and iconic views, the program delivers on a decades-old promise to reconnect the city with its shoreline.
“It’s mind-blowing to see how close our construction results are to the original vision and concept design renderings,” Brady said. “Seattle rebuilt our waterfront and stitched our downtown back into it, so people could enjoy Elliott Bay, the Olympic Mountains and all the waterfront has to offer.”
With every trail, terrace and transit connection, the new waterfront signals not only a feat of engineering and urban design, but a lasting legacy of civic ambition — one that will serve generations of Seattleites and visitors to come.
“We created a waterfront that serves a variety of people and uses. Everyone wants to be down here. It’s just as we envisioned: a waterfront for all,” Murphy said.
CONTACT
Paul Huston
HNTB Program Manager
(512) 750-0310
Brian Kittleson
HNTB Construction Engineer
(206) 819-5715
Kris Mason
HNTB Program Controls Manager
(310) 614-3152
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