I-5 Lid Study

I-5 Lid study

Interstate 5 has transformed modern Seattle. Critical to connecting the city to the region, the freeway also cuts the neighborhoods apart. In 2010, a group of civic leaders collected to engage the topic of I-5 and explore ideas for radically re-envisioning the presence of the freeway in downtown Seattle.

Through a series of charrettes and meetings the group developed three scenarios ranging from a large continuous park that leveraged the scale of the freeway to an emphasis on reconnecting the city grid and overcome the I-5 gap.

During the process it became clear that while the presence of I-5 in Seattle is strongly felt, the particulars of how the freeway negotiates Seattle’s complex topography was less understood. GGN analyzed the freeway landscape past and present through mapping, photographs, and analytical drawings to help inform the visioning process.

Details

Location: Seattle, WA
Size: 65 acres
Client: Private group of volunteers
Completion Date: 2010-2013

Services Provided

Site Analysis and Conceptual Planning Studies