Seattle Releases RFP for Lid I-5 Study

The plan to top I-5 in Seattle with a cap park—what writer Natalie Bicknell calls "the most ambitious effort in our region"—is moving ahead with a $1.5 million feasibility study.

1 minute read

January 3, 2019, 10:00 AM PST

By Elana Eden


Seattle Stadiums

Eric Broder Van Dyke / Shutterstock

Topping off a year of copious freeway greening and mitigation measures, the city of Seattle in December issued an RFP for a feasibility study on constructing a freeway cap park over I-5.

The proposed Lid I-5 would extend over the highway from Denny Way to Madison Street in central Seattle. Building the concrete "lid" over the road could essentially create hundreds of acres of new urban space for buildings, parks, and pedestrians.

The winning consultant team will be tasked with completing a preliminary analysis that maps out design opportunities and constraints, offers multiple concepts, and identifies possible funding plans. The city aims for the feasibility study to begin in March and be completed in 12-14 months. View the RFP here.

Friday, December 14, 2018 in The Urbanist

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