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The Durkan Digest: Connecting and Transforming our North Seattle Communities

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In the past few years, we have seen a number of major projects that have changed the face of our city. We brought down the viaduct and reconnected our downtown to the waterfront and its heartbeat, the Puget Sound. We are redeveloping the arena at Seattle Center and bringing major league hockey back to Seattle. And now, we are reconnecting two communities in Northgate that have been divided by I-5 for nearly 60 years.

Earlier this week, I joined Councilmember Deborah Juarez, Seattle Department of Transportation Director Sam Zimbabwe and community leaders to break ground on the Northgate Pedestrian/Bike Bridge Project.

Mayor Durkan, Councilmember Debora Juarez and other transportation leaders smile as they shovel dirt at the Northgate Bridge Groundbreaking

North Seattle is changing and growing rapidly. This project will connect community amenities like North Seattle College on the west side of I-5 to transit, Northgate Mall, and the future National Hockey League Ice Centre – and neighborhoods on both sides of I-5 to retail, medical, and social services.

The Northgate light rail station will be open before we know it and with it, a new option for the thousands of people who live in this area to get around. But with this transformational investment in light rail, we also know that additional investments will be required to help people make first and last mile connections.

Rendering of the Northgate Bridge, showing a large white pedestrian bridge spanning I-5 in Northgate

I want to thank all the community partners who have helped us make this project a reality, including Representatives Valdez and Pollet, and Senator Frockt, who along with bike and neighborhood advocates helped Seattle achieve this important milestone.

And thank you as well to Seattle voters who overwhelming approved funding for this project. These investments are a big part of making Seattle a safe, connected, and sustainable city.

I can’t wait for Seattle Promise students to get out of class, jump on their bike to get to the light rail, go to their internships, jump back on the light rail to head back up to Northgate and watch some hockey at the Ice Centre. That awesome future is not that far away.

As always, please continue to write me at Jenny.Durkan@seattle.gov, reach out via Twitter and Facebook, and stay up-to-date on the work we’re doing for the people of Seattle on my blog.

Mayor Jenny A. Durkan's Signature

This blog post is an excerpt from Mayor Jenny Durkan’s weekly newsletter. If would like more content like this, and a weekly recap of the exciting things happening in the City of Seattle, you can subscribe here.