Interstate 90 is an audible presence for much of the route.
While on the tunnel’s “Lid,” things are relatively tranquil, once you have
crossed 23rd Avenue South, where the vehicle tunnel emerges, the sound and
sight of the freeway is always with you, at points uncomfortably close as the
trail runs within just a few feet of speeding traffic. The environs are
somewhat gritty, typical of highway margins. Some denizens may be gritty, as
well. Stay well aware of your surroundings.
https://maps.app.goo.gl/rF25QwVfWhdAUySD7
The Bridges
The I90 bridge between Seattle
and Mercer Island is actually comprised of two bridges. The first Lake Washington Floating
Bridge opened on July 2, 1940. In 1967 it was named the Lacey V. Murrow
Memorial Bridge in honor of the recently deceased director of the state highway
department. Lacey Murrow happened to be the brother of famed newsman Edward R.
Murrow.
In 1989, an extensive
reconfiguration and renovation of the bridge was hit a curve when a massive storm exposed
engineering flaws causing the structure to break apart and sink. Fortunately, a
parallel span known as the Homer M. Hadley Memorial Bridge had just been put
into service and the old bridge closed to traffic. Thus, there were no
casualties. Three years later, the rebuilt Murrow Bridge opened. The Murrow
Bridge carries traffic eastward, while the Hadley Bridge brings traffic
westward into the city. (The short span from Mercer Island to Bellevue is known
as the East Channel Bridge.)
Homer Hadley was a civil engineer who promoted the idea of a floating bridge across the lake. Although he was not involved in the design or construction of either bridge, he was given posthumous credit for his concept. A plaque honoring Mr. Hadley appears to have been removed/stolen while the plinth remains.
The LidWhen originally opened in 1940, the I90 bridge connected to Interstate 5 along surface streets, including the newly made Lake Street. It was even possible to access the bridge from side roads close to the bridge deck. It wasn't until the 1989 expansion that the connection was converted to an elevated highway, decimating the surrounding neighborhoods. As part of the 1993 reconfiguration, an earthen "lid" or cap was built over the portion of the Mount Baker Ridge that covered the newer span. What once were residential neighborhoods are now a series of parks: Sam Smith, Jimi Hendrix, and Judkins.Much interest focuses on the technological marvels of the bridges, tunnels, and lid; less on the human cost of these marvels in divided and destroyed neighborhoods.
Mercer Island to the Portals.
Interstate 90 cuts between and over the Leschi and Mount
Baker neighborhoods, tunneling through Mount Baker Ridge to emerge west of 23rd
Avenue South in the Central District. The I90 trail officially begins (or ends)
on Mercer Island at Aubrey Davis Park; it parallels the Homer Hadley Bridge, the
northern stretch of the I90 floating bridge, before tailing off into the
Leschi/Mount Baker neighborhoods just before the Mount Baker Tunnel. For bikers
and walkers, magical portals at the east and west sides of the ridge allow you
to access a pedestrian tunnel, avoiding a very steep hill climb.
For those who prefer to start at the shore of Lake
Washington, a tangle of trails leads from the lake edge along Lakeside Avenue South
up to two East Portal overlooks, one on top of the other. Or they did. Today
the trails on the north side of the bridge are cut off by construction related
to the coming light rail connection to Bellevue. The southside route
encompasses a steep ascent via stairs and landings. It crosses 35th
Avenue South where one gets as close to the highway roadbed as one could comfortably
wish. A further staircase leads up to Lake Washington Boulevard and the higher
of the two viewpoints. The lower viewpoint stands directly in front of the
portal to the pedestrian tunnel through Mount Baker. From here, once may take
the 10-minute walk through the tunnel or opt for the steep climb over the
ridge.
From the viewpoints one could stand and watch the pieces of
the old floating bridge drift away after the Thanksgiving weekend storm of 1990
broke the bridge apart. The replacement bridge opened three years later.
The I90 bike/pedestrian trail adjoins the floating bridge on
the north side, landing up just below the lower viewpoint. From this vantage
point, one can see the complicated interplay of bridges, bike trail,
construction right of way, and the new light rail track, as well as remnants of
pedestrian paths and stairs now off-limits. (The 2 line was tested for the
first time on September 8, 2025, and is expected to be in service early in
2026.)
Near the East Portal: view many routes across the lake -- eastbound bridge, westbound bridge, bike path, and light rail.
One of several staircases that take you part way up or down Mount Baker Ridge.
The communities along the lake were quickly identified as recreational hotspots. By the early 20th century, white settlers were setting up summer homes here, some right where the freeway looms today. Indians who camped along the shore were pushed out as the Mount Baker and Leschi neighborhoods built pleasure grounds and the Olmsted Brothers planned and implemented interconnected parks and parkways as part of Seattle’s Emerald Necklace of greenspaces. Some residents made futile efforts to protest the widening of the bridge in the early 1990s.
The Tunnel to Sam Smith ParkGlorious views of the bridge, lake, and Cascade mountains reward those intrepid explorers who brave the slightly dark, noisy, graffiti-plastered pedestrian tunnel. The one-third mile stretch may not be for the claustrophobic, but the walls do offer many helpful suggestions for improving your love life.
Exiting the Mount Baker pedestrian tunnel on the west side places
you in Sam Smith Park, named for Seattle’s first Black city councilmember. Sam
Smith served five terms in the state legislature beginning in 1958; he then ran
for city council in 1967, serving until 1991. The park, with its huge
structures related to HVAC and electrical operations of the pedestrian and car tunnels,
resembles a giant’s set of building blocks. While there is actual public art
here, I recommend leaning into the brutalist nature of the landscape. Many
houses were condemned to build the lid; faint traces of foundations remain if
you look closely.
West Portal to pedestrian tunnel, Sam Smith Park
Sam Smith Park
From the West Portal, walk westward through Sam Smith Park
and across Martin Luther King, Jr. Boulevard (MLK) to Jimi Hendrix Park. Before you cross the boulevard, take
note of the Italianate church in a hollow just to the south of Stan Smith. This
is Our Lady of Mount Virgin Catholic Church, once the spiritual center of the
Italian community in Seattle. Originally, a smaller church, St. Boniface, that
catered to German immigrants, stood here. Sadly, Mount Virgin is now closed, one
of several local parishes falling victim to dwindling attendance, the scarcity
of priests, and the policies of the Archdiocese of Seattle.
Sketch of the original Mount Virgin, once called St.
Boniface, drawn by graduate student Nellie Roe in 1915. Courtesy University of
Washington Special Collections.
Mount Virgin Church today, Alan Humphrey.
Jimi Hendrix Park to Judkins Park
On the west side of the Mount Baker Lid, trails meander
through Seattle’s Central District before merging to travel across North Rainier
Valley.
Cross Martin Luther King Jr. Way, and enter Jimi Hendrix Park, named and inspired by the Seattle-born rocker and innovative musician (1942-1970) with ties to both the Central District and the Rainier Valley. The park, including innovative rock-inspired artwork, surrounds the old Colman School, now the Northwest African American Museum (NAAM).
Colman School becomes NAAM
Colman School and NAAM have a
unique history. The elementary school opened in 1918, well before highway
construction began, and served children from the Central District and the
Rainier Valley, including many minorities. When the school was closed in 1985
due to construction of the I90 lid, community leaders put forth the idea of
converting it into a museum of African American history. To make their point, a
small group of activists broke in and occupied the vacant building, an act of
civil disobedience that lasted eight years and ended with a promise by the city
to make their dream come true. Another decade of contentious negotiation and
legal maneuvering finally resulted in an agreement for the Urban League of
Metropolitan Seattle to purchase the building from the School District and
convert it into a museum and affordable housing. The Northwest African American
Museum had its grand opening on March 8, 2008. The apartments in the upper
floors are designated the Urban League Village.
In 1991, a new Colman Elementary
School opened a short distance away from the first, on the northern edge of the
lid. It was renamed in honor of Thurgood Marshall in 1996, three years
following the death of the nation’s first African American Supreme Court
Justice.
A word about Mr. Colman: The Colman
School was named for James Murray Colman (1832-1906), a Scottish-born
businessman whose name can be found throughout Seattle. There is also a Colman
Park, a Colman Playground, Colman Dock on Elliott Bay, and the Colman Building
downtown.
The old Colman School, now NAAM.
To the south of the Jimi Hendrix Park lies Colman
Playground, first laid out in 1915. At that time, the area around the old
Colman School was just blacktop, if that, so the playground was used by
schoolchildren, as well as families from the surrounding area. Some say the
Italian families used it for lawn bowling (bocce ball). In 1940, with the
assistance of the Works Progress Administration, a shelterhouse was opened at
the corner of the park. The Italianate-style building still stands at the
corner of South Grand Street and 23rd Avenue South and is utilized
by the Seattle Children’s PlayGarden, an inclusive recreation and education
program serving children with disabilities, but open to all for play. At one point the shelterhouse was
offered to the African American community for the museum they desired, but that
offer was turned down.
Cross another street, 23rd Avenue South, and find more traces of the old Italian district once called Garlic Gulch. You’re still on the I90 lid here, but soon cars will roar out of the tunnel heading for Interstate 5. Traces of the Gulch can be found on both sides of the freeway. From the I90 trail one can easily see several fragments of the Italian community. The Atlantic Street Center, which began life as Deaconess Settlement House for Italian immigrants, still stands at Atlantic and 21st. The street itself, which once stretched for several blocks east and west, is now only a short remnant west of 23rd Avenue South and another remnant to the east next to Sam Smith Park. The expansion of I90, with its tangle of onramps, offramps, and overpasses, wiped out many of the businesses that made up Garlic Gulch, as well as some 200 homes.
Atlantic Street Center, once the Deaconess Settlement House, still serves families in need.
To the north of Atlantic Street lies Judkins Park and neighborhood and the new, not-yet-opened, Light Rail station that will soon link Seattle to the Eastside along the I90 corridor. Trails through the park lead to the residential area that once was full of Italian homes, the north half of Garlic Gulch. Many homes featured grape arbors, vegetable gardens, plum trees, and even bocce ball courts. Take the trail on the north side of the lid that leads to Hiawatha Place and you’ll find a neighborhood transformed into apartments and condominiums. Along the trail you’ll pass the Charles M. Stokes Overlook, a scenic viewpoint from which to gaze out over the freeway to North Beacon Hill and downtown Seattle. Stokes (1903-1996) was a Black lawyer, legislator, and King County District Court judge. He served three terms in the Washington State legislature.
The last stretch of I90 and the I90 trail skirts the
southern edge of the International District, with nods to the Asian cultures
that have shaped Seattle. Begin on the south side of the lid, at a spot called
Benvenuto Viewpoint on 23rd Avenue South. Little information is
available about this overlook immediately to the south of the Light Rail
station. Benvenuto means “welcome” in Italian, so it is clear that the site
honors the Italian immigrant community. It is currently closed while
construction continues on the station.
The walking path then heads west along what’s left of
Atlantic Street, crosses over Rainier Avenue, and heads up Beacon Hill. For a
good stretch it parallels Interstate 90 closely as it rushes out of the lid and
on toward Interstate 5. Hold on to your hats!
The next stop is Daejeon Park (originally spelled “Taejon”) and
its ornate octagonal pavilion honoring Seattle’s sister-city relationship with
Daejeon, South Korea. Built in 1998, the pavilion has not yet fallen into
disrepair, although it is currently slated for refurbishment.
The park, long in the works, was officially dedicated in 1981
in memory of the Filipino patriot, poet, and martyr José Rizal. It contains a picnic
shelter, small play structure, and – obscured by heavy hillside vegetation -- a
dog park, as well as a bust of Rizal and colorful mosaics. Unfortunately, the
park has fallen victim to vandals and looters who have stolen not only several
bronze plaques but also the time capsule buried inside the pedestal of the
Rizal bust. These events occurred in the fall of 2024. The damage has not yet
been repaired and no one has been charged with the crimes. As of my visit in
August of this year, the area is sadly down-trodden with trash and graffiti
everywhere. On a positive note, the park does boast arguably the best views of
the city’s waterfront. Renovations and maintenance are scheduled to begin this
fall (2025).
Along the greenbelt between Daejeon Park and José Rizal
Park lies a wide spot called Sturgus Park. An art installation appears to be a
grid of 35 small concrete houses or tents. A larger “house” stands on a knoll
some distance away. No visible signage explains the work or credits the artist.
A deep dive reveals that the artwork, titled “Equality,” was created by artists
Rolon Bert Garner and Ken Leback and unveiled in 1996 with Seattle’s 1% for the
Arts. It is meant as a statement on wealth disparity. Beyond this, the park
offers dramatic views of the city.
The I90 trail officially ends at José Rizal Park after diverging from
the master Mountains to Sound Greenway trail which dives under the José Rizal
Bridge and skirts the edge of what is sometimes called “The Jungle,” a heavily
wooded area favored by unhoused individuals. The dog park situated in this
area, and accessed via steps down from José Rizal, appears little used. Yelp
reviews refer to the secluded setting and the lack of maintenance.
The dramatic José Rizal Bridge was built in 1911 to
span a deep gully created by the city’s regrading efforts. Then known as the 12th
Avenue South Bridge, it connects Beacon Hill to the International District over
low-lying Dearborn Street. It was renamed for the Filipino patriot in 1974
thanks to the efforts of the Filipino community in Seattle. The steel-arch bridge
is quite dramatic, especially when lighted at night.
The I90 Trail - come for the history, stay for the views!
