Mercer Street is a major east–west thoroughfare in the
Lower Queen Anne
Lower Queen Anne (officially known since 2021 as Uptown) is a neighborhood in Seattle, Washington (state), Washington, at the base of Queen Anne, Seattle, Queen Anne Hill. While its boundaries are not precise, the toponym usually refers to the sho ...
and
South Lake Union
South Lake Union (sometimes SLU) is a neighborhood in Seattle, Washington, so named because it is at the southern tip of Lake Union.
The official boundaries of the City of Seattle Urban Center are Denny Way on the south, beyond which is Denny ...
neighborhoods of
Seattle
Seattle ( ) is a seaport city on the West Coast of the United States. It is the seat of King County, Washington. With a 2020 population of 737,015, it is the largest city in both the state of Washington and the Pacific Northwest regio ...
, Washington. It travels and connects Elliott Avenue to the west and
Interstate 5
Interstate 5 (I-5) is the main north–south Interstate Highway on the West Coast of the United States, running largely parallel to the Pacific coast of the contiguous U.S. from Mexico to Canada. It travels through the states of Califor ...
to the east, serving as one of several downtown exits on the freeway. The street carries an average weekday volume of 38,000 vehicles on its central section.
Street description
Mercer Street begins as Mercer Place, at an intersection with Elliot Avenue West between the
Elliott Bay
Elliott Bay is a part of the Central Basin region of Puget Sound. It is in the U.S. state of Washington, extending southeastward between West Point in the north and Alki Point in the south. Seattle was founded on this body of water in the 1850s an ...
waterfront and
Kinnear Park on
Queen Anne Hill. The narrow road travels southeast up a short hill to 5th Avenue West, where it turns due east onto West Mercer Street. The street passes through the built-up
Lower Queen Anne
Lower Queen Anne (officially known since 2021 as Uptown) is a neighborhood in Seattle, Washington (state), Washington, at the base of Queen Anne, Seattle, Queen Anne Hill. While its boundaries are not precise, the toponym usually refers to the sho ...
neighborhood and widens to four lanes at Queen Anne Avenue.
Mercer Street continues east through the north part of the
Seattle Center
Seattle Center is an arts, educational, tourism and entertainment center in Seattle, Washington, United States. Spanning an area of 74 acres (30 ha), it was originally built for the 1962 World's Fair. Its landmark feature is the tall Space Needl ...
, passing the
Seattle Repertory Theatre
Seattle Repertory Theatre (familiarly known as "The Rep") is a major regional theatre located in Seattle, Washington, at the Seattle Center. It is a member of Theatre Puget Sound[McCaw Hall
Marion Oliver McCaw Hall (often abbreviated to McCaw Hall) is a performing arts hall in Seattle, Washington, United States. Located on the grounds of Seattle Center and owned by the city of Seattle, McCaw Hall's two principal tenants are the Seat ...]
, and
Memorial Stadium.
The street then passes the headquarters of the
Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation
The Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation (BMGF), a merging of the William H. Gates Foundation and the Gates Learning Foundation, is an American private foundation founded by Bill Gates and Melinda French Gates. Based in Seattle, Washington, it was ...
and gains a
protected bike lane on its north side as it passes under
Aurora Avenue North
State Route 99 (SR 99), also known as the Pacific Highway, is a state highway in the Seattle metropolitan area, part of the U.S. state of Washington. It runs from Fife in the south to Everett in the north, passing through the cit ...
(
State Route 99). Mercer Street travels east through
South Lake Union
South Lake Union (sometimes SLU) is a neighborhood in Seattle, Washington, so named because it is at the southern tip of Lake Union.
The official boundaries of the City of Seattle Urban Center are Denny Way on the south, beyond which is Denny ...
as a landscaped
boulevard
A boulevard is a type of broad avenue planted with rows of trees, or in parts of North America, any urban highway.
Boulevards were originally circumferential roads following the line of former city walls.
In American usage, boulevards may ...
with six lanes, passing between the campuses of
Amazon.com
Amazon.com, Inc. ( ) is an American multinational technology company focusing on e-commerce, cloud computing, online advertising, digital streaming, and artificial intelligence. It has been referred to as "one of the most influential economi ...
and
Google
Google LLC () is an American multinational technology company focusing on search engine technology, online advertising, cloud computing, computer software, quantum computing, e-commerce, artificial intelligence, and consumer electronics. ...
, to the south and north respectively. The street crosses the path of the
South Lake Union Streetcar
The South Lake Union Streetcar, officially the South Lake Union Line, is a streetcar route in Seattle, Washington, United States, forming part of the Seattle Streetcar system. It travels and connects Downtown Seattle to the South Lake Union n ...
at Westlake and Terry avenues, just south of
Lake Union Park
Lake Union Park is a park located at the south end of Lake Union in Seattle, Washington in the South Lake Union neighborhood. The park is owned by the City of Seattle and operated by Seattle Parks and Recreation. The park property was gradual ...
and the
Museum of History and Industry
The Museum of History & Industry (MOHAI) is a history museum in the South Lake Union neighborhood of Seattle, Washington, United States. It is the largest private heritage organization in Washington state, maintaining a collection of nearly four m ...
. After Fairview Avenue, Mercer enters an interchange with
Interstate 5
Interstate 5 (I-5) is the main north–south Interstate Highway on the West Coast of the United States, running largely parallel to the Pacific coast of the contiguous U.S. from Mexico to Canada. It travels through the states of Califor ...
, with direct ramps to the freeway and its reversible express lanes.
Several short neighborhood streets in
Capitol Hill
Capitol Hill, in addition to being a metonym for the United States Congress, is the largest historic residential neighborhood in Washington, D.C., stretching easterly in front of the United States Capitol along wide avenues. It is one of the ...
,
Madison Valley, and
Washington Park are also named East Mercer Street but are discontinuous from one another.
The downtown section of Mercer Street is classified as a major arterial street and is part of the
National Highway System, a network of roads identified as important to the national economy, defense, and mobility.
It is also one of the busiest streets in Seattle, carrying an
average weekday traffic volume of 38,000 vehicles between Taylor and Dexter avenues and 66,100 vehicles on the approach to I-5. Its least-traveled section, near Elliott Avenue, carried only 11,000 vehicles on an average weekday in 2016.
The street also has a short
protected bicycle lane
A cycle track, separated bike lane or protected bike lane (sometimes historically referred to as a sidepath) is an exclusive bikeway that has elements of a separated path and on-road bike lane. A cycle track is located within or next to the r ...
under Aurora Avenue that carries an average of 700 bicyclists per day.
History
Mercer Street, named for settler
Thomas Mercer
Judge Thomas Mercer (March 11, 1813 – May 25, 1898) was a pioneer associated with the early history of Seattle.
Biography
Early life
Mercer was born in Harrison County, Ohio on March 11, 1813, and was the eldest son of Aaron and Jane (Dicker ...
, was planned in the early 1860s as part of the initial street grid of Lower Queen Anne. A
wagon road
''Wagon Train'' is an American Western series that aired 8 seasons: first on the NBC television network (1957–1962), and then on ABC (1962–1965). ''Wagon Train'' debuted on September 18, 1957, and became number one in the Nielsen ratings. It ...
along what is now Mercer Street was constructed between Lower Queen Anne and Farm Street (later Aurora Avenue) in 1885.
During construction of Mercer Street's interchange with Interstate 5 in the 1960s, a tooth belonging to a
Woolly mammoth
The woolly mammoth (''Mammuthus primigenius'') is an extinct species of mammoth that lived during the Pleistocene until its extinction in the Holocene epoch. It was one of the last in a line of mammoth species, beginning with '' Mammuthus subp ...
was found by a bulldozer operator. It was estimate to be 12,000 to 14,000 years old at the time of its discovery.
In the 2010s, the
Seattle Department of Transportation
The Seattle Department of Transportation (SDOT) is a municipal government agency in Seattle, Washington that is responsible for the maintenance of the city's transportation systems, including roads, bridges, and public transportation. The agency ...
embarked on a $190.5 million project to widen and improve Mercer Street, which would be restored to bi-directional traffic between Aurora Avenue and Interstate 5. Construction began in September 2010 and the restoration of bi-directional traffic took two years, opening on August 27, 2012. The two-way segment was extended west to 9th Avenue North on May 30, 2014, removing the final section of one-way traffic on Mercer Street, while also permanently closing Broad Street in preparation for the
Alaskan Way Viaduct replacement tunnel
The State Route 99 tunnel, also known as the Alaskan Way Viaduct replacement tunnel, is a bored highway tunnel in the city of Seattle, Washington, United States. The , double-decker tunnel carries a section of State Route 99 (SR 99) under ...
project.
On April 27, 2019, a
construction crane
A crane is a type of machine, generally equipped with a hoist rope, wire ropes or chains, and sheaves, that can be used both to lift and lower materials and to move them horizontally. It is mainly used for lifting heavy objects and transpor ...
collapsed onto Mercer Street near its intersection of Fairview Avenue, crushing several cars in the eastbound lanes. At least four people were killed by the collapse.
References
External links
Mercer Corridor Project
{{Authority control
Streets in Seattle