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We start on Alaskan Way on Seattle's waterfront, heading north. The bridge in the background is the Alaskan Way Viaduct. US Highway 99 runs along it. Northbound lanes on top, southbound underneath.
This is a walkway from 1st Avenue to the Colman Ferry Dock where passengers can go to Bremerton or Bainbridge Island on the west side of the Puget Sound.
The U-turn at the end of the front straight is a quick turn onto Madison Street and then underneath the Alaskan Way Viaduct, which isnt a street at all, but a parking area. These are the only two places where youre riding against the flow of one-way traffic. If you plan a trip to Seattle and want to ride or drive this course, youll have to skip these two streets.
A quick left leads you onto Yesler Way. Then you turn through a five-way intersection onto James Street. This is the heart of Seattles Pioneer Square disctrict, the oldest part of Seattles downtown. Most of the buildings here are brick because they were the first to be rebuilt after the great fire of 1886 destroyed 80% of the young city.
The jumps: Second Avenue, Third Avenue and Fourth Avenue. The tall building at 2nd Ave is the Smith Tower. Until the 1950s, it was the tallest building west of the Mississippi River. The elevators are still the old brass carriages from when it was built around the turn of the previous century, still operated by hand.
At the top of the hill, you turn right onto 5th Avenue. The bend is where the road changes from 5th Avenue to 5th Ave S. The bridge is Yesler Way, which we were on at the bottom of the James Street hill.
This short section takes you west onto South Washington Street, north onto Prefontaine Place, and west again on Yesler Way.
A sharp left puts us on the Second Avenue South Extension. In the background is the Smith Tower. The bend in this long straight is where the 2nd Ave S Ext becomes Fourth Avenue South. Thats the historic King Street Station in the background, Seattles major train station. The next picture is looking north at Seattle. The three skyscrapers are known at the Triple Towers. The tall black one on the left is the Columbia Tower, Seattles tallest building at 75 floors. The white one in back is 800 5th Ave, and the one that looks like an oversized barn on the right is at 700 5th Ave.
Now we ride through Seattle's sports cathedrals- I mean stadiums. The right turn is onto Royal Brougham with Safeco Field on the left, the home of the Seattle Mariners. That overpass is the western end of Interstate 90. Get on it and follow it to its end, and youll be in Boston, 3200 miles later. The chicane is the south parking lot of the Kingdom. It was torn down even before GT3 came out and was replaced with Qwest Field, the home of the Seattle Seahawks. Where the parking lot once was is now the Stadium Exhibition Center where the annual motorcycle show is held. By the way, those two stadiums only stood next to each other for about 6 months before the Kingdome was imploded.
Exiting the chicane and back onto Royal Brougham, named for the famed Seattle Post-Intelligencer sports columnist who died at the age of 84 while working at the Kingdome during a football game in 1978. Safeco Field is seen again on the right. The large brick building is actually the stadiums façade. Youre crossing 1st Ave S at this point.
The right turn under the Alaskan Way Viaduct is not really a street, but a pair of holding lanes for cars waiting to load onto the vehicle ferries at the Colman Ferry Dock. The chicane is leading back onto Alaskan Way, and then its the start finish line all over again. You can see the top of the Seattle Space Needle in the final picture.
There you have it, a photomode tour of my hometown, Seattle.
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