Seattle Activists Remembered Celebrated Honored (2/0 1225 E. Newton St. Seattle, WA 98102 nike POWERING THE BUSINESS OF ART ARCH IS POWERED BY SHUNPIKE Page 2 FOR RELEASE: or February 27, 2018 219-6097) CONTACT: Anna Rudd (206- 325-7182) Priscilla Arsove (608- DIRECTORY UNCOVERS HISTORY OF SEATTLE’S FREEWAY REVOLT SEATTLE—Seattle’s Freeway Revolt, a far-reaching, grassroots citizen movement of the late 1960s and early 70s, has come to life in a new online resource. Seattle’s Freeway Revolt: A Directory of Historical Resources, hosted on the Seattle Public Library’s special collections online, provides a wealth of information on the intense, multi-year battle to halt plans for an expansive network of freeways in Seattle. It includes an overview of this multi-faceted movement, along with timelines, bibliographies, graphics and guides for finding relevant information. The project was made possible by a grant from 4Culture/King County Lodging Tax Fund, which funded two research archivists who contributed much of the content. Until now it’s been nearly impossible to uncover this history, say project organizers Priscilla Arsove and Anna Rudd, since it resides in records of multiple governing bodies and agencies, as well as media coverage dating back 50+ years. “We’re thrilled to help share this inspiring story of grassroots civic activism, which had such a profound impact on the city,” says Arsove. It’s especially timely, adds Rudd, given today’s resurgence of grassroots citizen movements across the country, as well as the fact that 2018 marks the 50th anniversary of Seattle’s freeway revolt. Citizens Against the RH Thomson (CARHT), led by Maynard Arsove, was formed in June 1968; Citizens Against Freeways, led by Margaret Cary Tunks, formed the following October. Citizen opposition centered on three major freeway projects that would have dramatically transformed the Seattle landscape and created a freeway density greater than Los Angeles. Page 3  The R.H. Thomson Expressway, roughly a mile parallel to I-5, would have cut a 15-mile swath from Duwamish to Bothell. Citizens Against the R.H. Thomson (“CARHT”) waged a four-year battle to stop this freeway, which would have destroyed as many as 3,000 homes and displaced up to 8,000 people.  The Bay Freeway, envisioned as a link between I-5 and the Seattle Center, would have created a giant viaduct walling off South Lake Union from the rest of the city. A citizen lawsuit was instrumental in defeating it.  An expansive, 14-lane I-90 Mercer Island bridge would have connected to the R.H. Thomson via a massive interchange and cut an open trench through Mount Baker Ridge. Much of the surrounding community would have been obliterated. Citizens spearheaded legal challenges against the project and advanced design modifications that resulted in the current 8-lane bridge configuration. Two of those lanes were designed for future rail transit, which will soon be implemented. Arsove, daughter of anti-freeway movement leader Maynard Arsove, and Rudd, a former anti-freeway activist, are co-founders of Seattle ARCH, a group dedicated to preserving the history of Seattle’s Freeway Revolt . Seattle ARCH is fiscally sponsored by Shunpike, the 501(c)(3) non-profit agency that provides independent arts groups in Washington State with the services, resources, and opportunities they need to forge their own paths to sustainable success. A documentary film on the freeway revolt, produced by filmmaker and UW professor Minda Martin, is targeted for release in early summer. In addition to collaborating on the film, Seattle ARCH has worked to preserve a section of the R.H. Thomson “Ramps to Nowhere” as a monument to citizen activists who helped defeat this freeway. In October 2016, the Seattle City Council unanimously approved a resolution, introduced by Councilmember Debora Juarez, to preserve four columns and a crossbeam of the defunct freeway. The monument is expected to come to fruition when reconstruction of SR 520 is completed in 2028. Prints copies of the directory will be available at the Central Library and selected branch libraries.