A Doomed Seattle Freeway Ramp Gets a Loving Goodbye

In Montlake, Seattle, there's an elevated section of highway jutting out of SR 520 that's abandoned and scrawled with graffiti. This is the "North Montlake Ramp," a lopped-off connector to the R.H. Thomson Expressway that was never built due to a strong neighborhood revolt (mirrored nationally) against highways in the '60s and '70s.

Over the decades the ramp could've just become another blah fixture in the city's roadscape. But this being Seattle, the community welcomed the odd structure with open arms, incorporating it into their lives and play. People transformed it into a dance floor, skateboard park, a swimming hole, and a kayaking course. Lovers got married under it. And an individual going by the name Captain Defect claims that among "other things, I built and lived in 'a house' inside that bridge."