Bridging the gap Bridging the gap Bridging the gap

Bet you didn’t know that one of the busiest thoroughfares in Seattle is 2,067 feet long, carries more than 100,000 travelers, including 19,000 bus riders, every single day, and is named for a UW alum. That would be the Jeanette Williams Memorial Bridge. You probably know it by its unofficial name: the West Seattle Bridge.

Williams, ’35, was an icon in King County politics and a longtime member of the King County Council and Seattle City Council. With a deep sense of social justice and doing all she could for the greater good, she is credited with securing $60 million in federal funding that made the West Seattle Bridge a reality in 1984. That was necessary because the previous bridge was damaged in 1978 when a freighter crashed into it.

Bet you didn’t know that this revered political leader didn’t major in political science or public policy and governance at the UW. Nope, she majored in violin.

The daughter of Russian immigrants, Williams, who was born in Seattle in 1914, made beautiful music her whole life. According to HistoryLink.org, in addition to her UW degree in violin, she also earned a degree from the American Conservatory of Music in Chicago, played violin with the Chicago Philharmonic Orchestra and toured the country with a group of young women, the Swingin’ Strings, playing jazz and blues. She also played viola but eventually put her music career on hold to focus on politics.

That resulted in a symphony of accomplishments, championing Magnuson Park while fending off the efforts of private pilots to turn the area into a private airport. She fought discrimination in housing, pushed to have women hired to work in the fire department, fought for the rights of LGBTQ community members, the list goes on and on.

She died Oct. 24, 2008 at the age of 94, feisty as ever until the end. In 2009, the City of Seattle renamed the bridge as a secondary designation in her name. While many people who drive the bridge connecting West Seattle to downtown may not know her name, they sure know her impact.

Jeanette Williams; photo courtesy Rusty Williams, via History Link.

West Seattle Bridge facts 

• Total length: 2,607 feet 

• Navigational Clearance height: 140 feet 

• Design: Cantilevered segmental bridge 

• Built between 1981 and 1984 (this was a replacement bridge) 

• Was renamed the Jeanette Williams Memorial Bridge on July 6, 2009 in honor of the Seattle council member who was instrumental in securing political support for the construction of the bridge. 

• It caused an increase in property values as well as a development boom and an increase in traffic volumes 

• High-level bridge closed in March 2020 after cracks were found to be growing in the underside. Repair took 2 ½ years. Reopened September 2022 

Lead photo courtesy of Seattle Municipal Archives, identifier 170858