Lids over freeways have become rather the norm around Seattle. The 520 bridge lid on Mercer Island is quite long and a shorter one is being built in the Montlake neighborhood. The Washington Department of Transportation has endorsed the idea of lids over I-5 and a study is currently underway studying a lid that would stretch from Denny Way to Madison St. We should be getting the report soon, but so far we have word that a lid is technically feasible, from an engineering standpoint. Several community meetings have been held on what should be located on that lid, with proposals from parks to public low-income housing. A study is also underway for a lid over I-5 between NE 45th St and NE 50th St by a group of UW students. The photo above shows the site of that lid over I-5.
Again, a variety of possible uses of the lid have been proposed. And again these have ranged from a park, a bicycle path across the freeway at about NE 47th, housing of several possible types and commercial buildings. The UW students have put up a survey asking for your opinion of what possible uses would best meet the needs of nearby residents. Go to the survey to offer your opinions. The survey should take you about 5 to 10 minutes to complete. It will be open until May 17.
If you want to learn more about the current effort to lid I-5 at various points downtown, take a look at the Lid I-5 website. The work that has been completed to date is quite substantial and very impressive.