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As explored in this week’s related news story, a walk along the

Published 7:00 am Monday, September 24, 2012

Few take advantage of Waterfront Park, forbiddingly walled off from Alaskan Way, which leads to more access at Piers 59 and 61, the Seattle Aquarium.
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Few take advantage of Waterfront Park, forbiddingly walled off from Alaskan Way, which leads to more access at Piers 59 and 61, the Seattle Aquarium.
Few take advantage of Waterfront Park, forbiddingly walled off from Alaskan Way, which leads to more access at Piers 59 and 61, the Seattle Aquarium.
Pier 70 at last. Some days you can amble around the structure, some days you can not. Just do not expect any signs to indicate the public walkway.
Do not miss that sign. If you thread your way through the parking lot at Pier 67, the Edgewater Hotel.
You will find a convenient public area for motorcycle parking and cigarette smoking. Port of Seattle headquarters, at Pier 69, lies just north.
A bench without a view at Pier 66. Those who pay for a cruise-ship ticket can expect better.
The city park at Piers 62 and 63 offers great access and open boardwalk, which, unfortunately, the law-abiding public seems reluctant to use.
Bell Harbor Marina at Pier 66 gets you close to the water. To get any closer, however, you will have to rent a yacht slip from the Port of Seattle.
The walkway goes to nowhere, though it does provide an elevated vista of the city and bay.
The Bay Pavilion, a.k.a. Pier 57, includes this soaring walkway.
Due for replacement, the state-owned Colman Ferry Dock, Piers 52 and 53, offers good views, including a northward look at the inaccessible end of Ivar's Pier 54, at right.
Viewed from the hideous, concrete-walled Waterfront Park on Piers 58 and 59, Pier 57 offers water access, even though no signs to encourage it.
While it is hard to find many waterfront signs indicating access, there are plenty encouraging you not to linger. Here is one example, near Ivar's.
Pier 56. Squeeze past the tables of Elliotts Oyster House, and you will find a parking lot with the best view in Seattle. No signs, but it is legal.
Alaska Square at least has signs indicating waterfront access, but those signs are attached to a locked gate.
The north side of Ivar's Pier 54 offers little to entice pedestrians, though tourists can take a charter sail from the adjacent slip.
Starting just south of the Colman Ferry Dock, the Port of Seattle-owned Alaska Square seems permanently closed.
Just north, Fire Station No. 5 offers a neat little viewpoint easily mistaken for a parking strip, provided you are a firefighter.

As explored in this week’s related news story, a walk along the waterfront reveals the variable levels of public access to Elliott Bay. Photos and text by Brian Miller.Published on September 10, 2007

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