By Lorcan Stokes

On Thursday, January 24, Mayor Bruce Harrell, joined by members from the Office of the Waterfront and Civic Projects, Alliance for Pioneer Square, and Seattle City Council members, announced the beginning of construction for the Pioneer Square East-West Pedestrian Improvements project at a groundbreaking ceremony.

"A future where there is more neighborhood activation, increased foot traffic, beautified green spaces, thriving businesses, [neighbors] who love their neighborhood and feel safe in their neighborhood," Harrell said. "That is the Seattle we are becoming."

The upcoming project is a component of Harrell's Downtown Activation Plan, a blueprint that revitalizes Seattle by improving safety, zoning, local businesses, tourism, environmental development, and more. In Pioneer Square, construction has commenced to enhance pedestrian walkways and improve traffic towards Seattle’s waterfront, specifically around South King, South Main, South Washington, and Yesler Way. The renovations include wider sidewalks, protection of historic underground areaways by moving vehicles away from them, and the addition of Native foliage throughout the area while still maintaining loading zones for local businesses in the neighborhood. 

"This project aims to improve accessibility for people of all ages and abilities and provide safe and convenient pedestrian connections between our historic Pioneer Square district and the waterfront," Angela Brady, Director of the Office of the Waterfront and Civic Projects, said. 

In addition, this project is a significant part of the City's Waterfront Seattle Program, an agenda focused on building a stronger connection between Seattle residents and the waterfront by creating a 20-acre-long park extending from Lumen Field and T-Mobile Park to Belltown.

"With the removal of the Alaska Way viaduct, our community was reconnected to the water, and this year, we will be able to see this project come to life, ensuring a direct connection of Pioneer Square as a waterfront community," Lisa Howard, the Executive Director of Alliance for Pioneer Square, said.

More changes to the waterfront include the restoration of the Washington Street Boat Landing Pergola, providing a more suitable entry point to the waterfront from Pioneer Square. The pergola will remain closed until the Waterfront Promenade project is complete. In addition, Pioneer Square Habitat Beach has also been constructed and completed as part of this program. This newly revitalized beachfront, which received additional rocks and vegetation to enrich the area's greenery and marine life and help restore an already natural shoreline, was also part of the waterfront plan. 

"What we know is parks make extraordinary cities, and they connect us to nature and to one another," Joy Shigaki, President & CEO of Friends of Waterfront Seattle, said. "This was and continues to be an audacious vision following the 2001 Nisqually earthquake that damaged that double-decker highway that once stood behind us to ask what would be possible at the heart of Seattle and the connection to the Salish sea."

Additionally, Valerie Segrest, a Native Nutrition Educator who is the Co-Founder of Tahoma Peak Solutions and an enrolled member of the Muckleshoot Indian Tribe, has been critical in incorporating Native plants into the Waterfront project. 

"To bring indigenous perspective with us into the future is part of successful planning," Segrest said. "It's part of maintaining a healing story, it's part of decolonizing land, and it's part of making land acknowledgments action steps that truly help us all reconnect to the lands that we walk on and to help promote visibility."

Following the announcement, a reception was held at a local Pioneer Square restaurant, Ohsun Banchan Deli & Cafe. Seattle's Waterfront Park is set to be fully completed by 2025.