page_title: Washington State Route 99
section_title: Seattle and Aurora Avenue
hierarchical_section_title: Washington State Route 99 / Route description / Seattle and Aurora Avenue
caption_attribution_description: Aurora Avenue and George Washington Memorial Bridge, looking southbound from 41st street bridge, Fremont, Washington
context_page_description: State Route 99, also known as the Pacific Highway, is a state highway in the Seattle metropolitan area, part of the U.S. state of Washington. It runs 49 miles from Fife in the south to Everett in the north, passing through the cities of Federal Way, SeaTac, Seattle, Shoreline, and Lynnwood. The route primarily follows arterial streets but has several freeway segments, including the SR 99 Tunnel in Downtown Seattle. SR 99 was officially named the William P. Stewart Memorial Highway by the state legislature in 2016, after a campaign to replace an unofficial moniker honoring Confederate president Jefferson Davis.
  SR 99 was originally a section of U.S. Route 99, which was once the state's primary north–south highway. US 99 was created in 1926 and replaced earlier local roads that date back to the 1890s and state roads designated as early as 1913. The highway was moved onto the Alaskan Way Viaduct in 1953, replacing a congested stretch through Downtown Seattle, and other sections were built to expressway standards in the 1950s.
  US 99 was ultimately replaced by the Tacoma–Everett section of Interstate 5, which opened in stages between 1965 and 1969.
context_section_description: SR 99 resumes at the north end of Tukwila International Boulevard and supersedes SR 599, a short freeway connecting to I-5, near the Duwamish River. The freeway travels northwest along the river's west bank through an industrial area that faces Boeing Field. It then enters the city of Seattle and intersects the Des Moines Memorial Drive in the South Park neighborhood before the freeway ends. At an interchange with SR 509, SR 99 turns north and travels across the Duwamish River on the First Avenue South Bridge, a pair of bascule bridges that form a continuation of the SR 509 freeway.
  At the north end of the bridge, SR 99 turns northwest onto East Marginal Way South and travels through Seattle's industrial neighborhood along the east bank of the Duwamish Waterway. The six-lane street turns north and passes a cement factory before transforming into a four-lane freeway at an interchange with the West Seattle Freeway on the east end of the West Seattle Bridge. SR 99 widens to six lanes, including a northbound bus lane, and passes through the SoDo neighborhood as the dividing line between the Port of Seattle's container ship terminals to the west and industrial businesses to the east beyond a rail terminal. The freeway passes the corporate headquarters of Starbucks and Coast Guard Station Seattle before turning northeast and reaching the southern portal of the Alaskan Way Tunnel near CenturyLink Field and T-Mobile Park. The tunnel entrance includes offramps to nearby streets, including Dearborn Street, Alaskan Way, and a frontage road along the east side of the highway.
  The tunnel travels 1.8 miles (2.9 km) under Downtown Seattle and carries SR 99 along the central waterfront, running roughly parallel to the former Alaskan Way Viaduct. It is arranged with two stacked decks, carrying two lanes of southbound traffic on the upper deck and two lanes of northbound traffic on the lower deck. SR 99 emerges from the tunnel on the north side of Denny Way and travels onto Aurora Avenue North through the South Lake Union neighborhood, located to the east of the Seattle Center and the Space Needle. Aurora Avenue continues north as a six-lane street with bus lanes and a median barrier that restricts access from side streets to right-in/right-out. The highway runs along the eastern slope of Queen Anne Hill, above the Westlake neighborhood along Lake Union, to the Lake Washington Ship Canal.
  Aurora Avenue then crosses the ship canal on the George Washington Memorial Bridge (commonly known as the Aurora Bridge), a steel cantilever arch bridge with a clearance of 167 feet (51 m). The bridge has six lanes and no median barrier, which resumes after an interchange with Bridge Way on the north approach, which crosses over the Fremont Troll. The highway continues north through part of Fremont and intersects North 46th Street before entering Woodland Park. SR 99 forms the boundary between Woodland Park to the east and the Woodland Park Zoo to the west and passes under a series of three pedestrian overpasses. The highway turns northeast to follow the shore of Green Lake and passes through the residential districts of Phinney Ridge and Greenwood, where traffic signals replace the medians and right-in/right-out access. SR 99 passes west of the North Seattle College campus in Licton Springs and intersects Northgate Way, a major street that provides access to Northgate Mall. Aurora Avenue then bisects the Evergreen Washelli Memorial Park, the city's largest cemetery, and passes between Haller Lake and Bitter Lake before reaching the northern city boundary at North 145th Street (SR 523).
caption: Aurora Avenue with the George Washington Memorial Bridge and the Downtown Seattle skyline in the background
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