Viaduct demolition is about done. Here’s how to get a free piece of the old highway

Now that Alaskan Way Viaduct demolition is ending, the state is offering fragments of the 66-year-old structure to the public.

The free ruins are available at Friends of Waterfront Seattle, 1400 Western Ave., Wednesday through Sunday, noon to 5 p.m. Most pieces are smaller than a baseball, spokeswoman Laura Newborn said.

When viaduct removal started last winter, the Washington State Department of Transportation (WSDOT) wouldn’t offer pieces, but recently decided to do so. WSDOT received more than 100 requests.

Only four columns remain, on a slope north of Victor Steinbrueck Park, after crews removed crossbeams Tuesday.

Most rubble from the 122,000-ton roadway has been pulverized and poured into the defunct Battery Street Tunnel. The remainder will become fill next to its south portal or be sent to other Northwest projects.

A new Highway 99 tunnel opened Feb. 4 to replace the viaduct.

Meanwhile, other crews are mobilizing to build the Alaskan Way boulevard, with wide waterfront sidewalks, two parklike lids and a bike lane by 2024. Road widths will vary from nine lanes at Colman Dock to four lanes near Olympic Sculpture Park.

A four-lane bridge will link surface Alaskan Way uphill to Elliott Avenue in Belltown.