"More than 15 years in the works, Seattle's new park is a true reconnection of the city with its water. Once separated from downtown Seattle by the double-decker Alaskan Way Viaduct highway, the waterfront has been painfully and expensively restitched into the city after traffic was rerouted into a $3.35 billion tunnel and the surface level reconfigured as a boulevard."
"The park is a 1.2-mile long linear space along Elliott Bay with tendrils that spread perpendicularly into the city grid. It also connects tourist attractions like Pike Place Market, the Seattle Aquarium, and Pioneer Square with historic docks, new playgrounds, and a bicycle and pedestrian lane that wraps around the bay. After being officially open for just over a month, the park won one of the most prestigious prizes in urban parks."
Public spaces are increasingly concentrated at seashores and riverfronts, with waterfront parks experiencing a renaissance across North America. 2025 saw an especially active wave of openings, bringing ambitious park designs to the water's edge that provide recreation, ecological services, and catalysts for urban regeneration. Seattle reopened a 1.2-mile linear park along Elliott Bay after removal of the Alaskan Way Viaduct, reconnecting downtown attractions and adding playgrounds, historic docks, and continuous bicycle and pedestrian access. Toronto opened the first phase of nearly 100-acre Biidaasige Park in 2025, beginning to undo more than a century of environmental damage.
Read at Fast Company
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