Seattle's Alaskan Way Viaduct mobbed with last-minute love as it closes forever

People wave fromtheir cars as others walk around on the Alaskan Way Viaduct as it is closed for the final time before its demolition, Friday, Jan. 11, 2018. People wave fromtheir cars as others walk around on the Alaskan Way Viaduct as it is closed for the final time before its demolition, Friday, Jan. 11, 2018. Photo: GENNA MARTIN, Genna Martin, Seattlepi.com Photo: GENNA MARTIN, Genna Martin, Seattlepi.com Image 1 of / 59 Caption Close Seattle's Alaskan Way Viaduct mobbed with last-minute love as it closes forever 1 / 59 Back to Gallery

Seattle's Alaskan Way Viaduct was scheduled to close at 10 p.m. on Friday, but Seattle wasn't quite ready by then.

Instead, as clocks ticked past 10 p.m., cars were still streaming onto the 65-year-old elevated highway along the city's waterfront. People on Twitter reported that as state Department of Transportation trucks tried to block the highway, cars drove around them to continue onto the highway even as it was closed.

In the hours before the closure, drivers feeling nostalgic celebrated the end of what may have been the city's most dangerous piece of infrastructure. After 9 p.m., both the northbound and southbound lanes of state Route 99 were crowded with cars taking a last trip on the viaduct.

Those making the trek were met with a cacophony of horns honking, people yelling and cars pulling over to capture it all.

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"I haven't felt this sense of community, culture, history, and civic pride in this city in a long time," wrote Dr. Bunso on Twitter. "And now the game changes...like when the Kingdome was imploded, light rail opened up...lots of changes and can't say I've liked them all but at least I can say I've been alive to see em."

Beyond the seemingly unending traffic still trying to get one last ride over the viaduct well past 10 p.m., cars lined up and pulled over in the right lane of the northbound upper deck while other people wandered onto the highway on foot.

A video feed from SDOT showing the southbound lanes at the on-ramp from Elliott Avenue showed a growing crowd of pedestrians gathering on the highway while an occasional car headed through to the south.

Some people on the roadway had come with crowbars and hammers and used them to break off parts of the viaduct to carry away as souvenirs. Another group was seen carrying away a sign for SR-99 south. Others lit bottle rockets and other fireworks. All seemed to lament the end of the viaduct's 65-year reign along Seattle's waterfront.

"Im sad that it's closing," said Lindsay Ihrig, who lives in Seattle. "This has been here longer than I've been alive."

Nathan Konieczka shared in the sadness but also looked forward to not hearing the highway.

"This is one of the coolest highways there is, the views of the water and the city," he told SeattlePI. "(I'm) going to like it when it's not so noisy."

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It was after 11 p.m. before police were finally called in to clear the highway. Before they did, though, cars were seen drag racing on the northbound lanes while a motorcyclist blew up their rear tire doing a burnout. Someone on Twitter reporter women standing topless on the viaduct and taking photos with passersby.