SR 519 begins as Edgar Martinez Drive, named for former Seattle Mariners Designated HitterEdgar Martínez, in the SoDo neighborhood of Seattle. The highway begins at an intersection between Edgar Martinez Drive, the western terminus of I-90, and 4th Avenue. SR 519 travels west over BNSF Railway tracks, heading north to King Street Station, and south of T-Mobile Park before it turns north onto Dave Niehaus Way, named for former Seattle Mariners sportscaster Dave Niehaus, at an intersection with Atlantic Street. Dave Niehaus Way continues north between T-Mobile Park and CenturyLink Field to the east and SR 99 on the Alaskan Way Viaduct to the west before becoming 1st Avenue. SR 519 turns west onto Alaskan Way at the Port of Seattle on Pier 46, parallel to Elliott Bay, to end at an intersection with Yesler Way and Colman Dock at Pier 52. Every year, the Washington State Department of Transportation conducts a series of surveys on its highways in the state to measure traffic volume. This is expressed in terms of average annual daily traffic, which is a measure of traffic volume for any average day of the year. In 2011, WSDOT calculated that between 38,000 and 102,000 vehicles per day used the highway, mostly at the Colman Dock. WSDOT has designated SR 519 as a Highway of Statewide Significance, which includes principal arterials that are needed to connect major communities in the state.
History
SR 519 was codified in 1991 as a state highway and began at the western terminus of I-90, then at 4th Avenue S., and traveled west onto Royal Brougham Way and north on Alaskan Way to Colman Dock. The city streets in Seattle used by SR 519 were constructed after the series of regrades in the early 20th century filled a mudflat in SoDo. By 1916, Alaskan Way was paved and had its rails removed to handle growing traffic. The Alaskan Way Viaduct was built above Alaskan Way between 1950 and 1953 and narrowed the street after Colman Dock was transferred to Washington State Ferries in 1951. Ferry routes were incorporated into the state highway system in 1994, as SR 304 and SR 305 were extended to Seattle and SR 339 was created. WSDOT completed their South Seattle Intermodal Access Project in May 2010, which improved SR 519 and the western terminus of I-90 to better handle freight traffic heading to the Port of Seattle. New bridges over BNSF Railway tracks were built on Royal Brougham Way and off-ramps to I-90 that connect to Edgar Martinez Drive. SR 519 was later moved onto Edgar Martinez Drive in 2010 as a direct extension of I-90 after the construction of the new ramp and improvements to an intersection with Atlantic Street. SR 519 is routed onto two streets named for Seattle Mariners personalities: Edgar Martinez Drive, dedicated in 2005, and Dave Niehaus Way, dedicated in 2010. During the construction of the Alaskan Way Viaduct replacement tunnel, WSDOT closed SR 519 and Alaskan Way between King Street and Yesler Way in May 2012, re-routing the highway to a temporary alignment.
