Freeway Park

Freeway Park is an urban deck park in central Seattle that sits above Interstate 5 and was developed as a landscaped public space in the 1970s.

Conceived and built in the mid-1970s, the park was part of urban efforts to reconnect neighborhoods divided by the freeway and to provide new public open space in downtown Seattle. Its design reflects mid-20th century modernist landscape principles and was influential in later deck-park projects.

Freeway Park spans Interstate 5 in downtown Seattle, forming a raised pedestrian link between the city center and First Hill, a short walk from major downtown transit and commercial areas.

• Designer and year: Designed by landscape architect Lawrence Halprin and opened in 1976, it was an early example of a deck park built over a freeway.
• Size and role: Covers roughly 5 acres and functions as a pedestrian link between downtown Seattle and the First Hill neighborhood.

What to See #

• Plazas and terraces: A sequence of plazas and terraces built on a large deck over the freeway, arranged with concrete walls, stairs and planted pockets that frame paths and seating.
• Water features: A series of waterfalls and planted pockets that form the park's signature water features and verdant corridors running along the elevated deck.