Skip to main content

Viewpoints in Seattle; Dr. Jose Rizal Park, Jose Rizal Bridge, South Day Street Park and East Portal Viewpoint

Before leaving Seattle I checked out some of the more notable view points in the city; Dr. Jose Rizal Park and the East Portal Viewpoint.






Dr. Jose Rizal Park is located south of I-90 on 12th Avenue on Beacon Hill.   The park dates back to the late 1970s and overlooks downtown Seattle looking northwest over I-5.  Safeco Field, Centurylink Field, Smith Tower, Pioneer Square, the Seattle Waterfront and Columbia Center are all clearly visible.





At the intersection of 12th Avenue and Charles Street the Jose Rizal Bridge can be seen.  The Jose Rizal Bridge was built in 1911 and was originally known 12th Avenue Bridge.  The first permanent steel bridge installed in Seattle, it currently crosses over I-90.


South Day Street Park is located at the intersection of Day Street and Lake Side Avenue on the shores of Lake Washington.  The substructure of Homer M. Hadley Memorial Bridge and Lacey V. Murrow Memorial Bridge can be seen from the shore of Lake Washington.  The Murrow Bridge 6,620 foot long floating bridge which opened in 1940 and carries the eastbound lanes of I-90.  The Hadley Bridge is 5,811 foot long floating bridge which carries westbound I-90 traffic and was opened in 1989.





East Portal Viewpoint can be accessed from Lake Washington Boulevard.  The East Portal Viewpoint overlooks the Hadley and Murrow Bridges as it crosses Lake Washington towards Bellevue.








Comments

Popular posts from this blog

Tulare Lake returns

During the winter of 2023 California experienced one of the wettest seasons in recent decades.  Enough snow and water were deposited into the Sierra Nevada Mountains that the runoff was enough to partially reform Tulare Lake within San Joaquin Valley.  Tulare Lake was once the largest lake west of the Mississippi River by surface area.  Tulare Lake has been largely dried for the past century due to irrigation divisions and upstream impoundments.  This blog will examine the history of Tulare Lake and its recent return.  Pictured as the blog cover is Tulare Lake from 19th Avenue in Kings County during early May 2023.  Tulare Lake can be seen near its maximum extent below on the 1876 P.Y. Baker Map of Tulare County .   Part 1; the history of Tulare Lake Tulare Lake is the largest remnant of Lake Corcoran.  Lake Corcoran once covered much of the entire Central Valley due to being it being located at a in natural low point from where mountain run-off would accumulate.  Lake Corcoran is thou

Former US Route 101 through Sargent

  Sargent is a ghost town and siding of the Southern Pacific Railroad located in southern Santa Clara County.  The original alignment of US Route 101 was aligned through Sargent via what is now known as Old Monterey Road.  Sargent was bypassed gradually due to shifts of the alignment of US Route 101 which occurred during 1941 and 1950.  Pictured as the blog cover is a view on Old Monterey Road which is now no longer accessible to the general public.  Below is a scan of the 1935 Division of Highways Map of Santa Clara County which depicts the original alignment US Route 101 through Sargent.   Part 1; the history of US Route 101 in Sargent Sargent lies on land which was once part of Rancho Juristac.  During 1856 James P. Sargent purchased Rancho Juristac and plotted what was known as Sargent Ranch.  By 1869 the Southern Pacific Railroad coast line reached the relocated town site of Gilroy.  The Southern Pacific Railroad coast line would be constructed through Chittenden Pass by 1871 whic

California State Route 60/Former US Route 60/70 through the Moreno Valley Badlands west to Riverside

This past month I drove California State Route 60 through the Moreno Valley Badlands westward towards the City of Riverside.  CA 60 through the Moreno Valley Badlands was once part of the corridors of US Route 60 and US Route 70. The present route of CA 60 is a 70 mile (76 counting multiplex) slice of former US 60 between downtown Los Angeles east to I-10 near Beaumont.  The vast majority of CA 60 aside from a small section in the Moreno Valley Badlands is presently a freeway grade. For me CA 60 holds some personal history as it was the route I used most frequently accessing work sites in the Inland Empire circa 2011-2013.  Despite what many others probably would say I always really enjoyed the Moreno Valley Badlands portion of CA 60.  Considering I frequently worked on US 60 through Arizona and New Mexico the route holds even more appeal.  I even have a CA 60 shield hanging up in my garage. Part 1; History of Roadways in the Moreno Valley Badlands CA 60 between B