Along the Mother Road
State Route 99 is an iconic roadway — a relic from Seattle’s early days when the city dreamed that free and easy travel by car would attract people to its center, and later, help them bypass congestion downtown.
But what sped by was time. The road is better known today for its seedier side — prostitution, homelessness, discount stores and car dealerships.
Seattle’s growth is bringing changes and tensions to the throughway some call Seattle’s “Mother Road.” We look at what it tells us about where we came from and where we’re going.
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Stories
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Nothing on highway 99 scares Mike. But Mike's taxidermy might scare you
Mike West likes to watch for someone from out of town to walk by on Tukwila International Boulevard. He leans out the door of the auto shop he's...
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Tukwila needed a new police station, so these businesses must find a new home
Meet Ali Jama. He owns a jewelry store with a clever name: Haveniceday Jewelry. “A simple name that everybody can remember and say it without having any...
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Hundreds of senior citizens will soon be walking highway 99 in Tukwila
The city of Tukwila has spent years trying to turn a section of old highway 99 into a dense, walkable neighborhood. But it’s not easy to redefine a road...
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When seniors are priced out, they end up warehoused on Aurora
Victoria Marshall was born in 1945, and she’s full of stories. She can talk about the four years she was homeless, about raising kids, or about her deep...
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How a massive motel raid in Tukwila changed one business owner's life
For years, Tukwila’s stretch of highway 99 was known for its crime: drug sales, prostitution, burglaries and violence. Then one morning in 2013,...
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How sex workers helped with the biggest motel bust in state history
Everything had to work perfectly.
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How Tukwila stole 2.5 miles of Highway 99 from state control
It started with street trees. Tukwila wanted to plant some along state Route 99 to slow down traffic and beautify the area. But the state said no. Trees...
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Tukwila has a dream for this old highway: Don’t get run over
Tukwila, a small city of about 20,000 people, punches above its weight. That's partly because it's willing to throw elbows around, seizing property by...
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In South Park, these kids learn the dances of Mexico
Drive south on Highway 99 and you’ll go straight through the middle of Seattle’s South Park neighborhood.
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Should downtown residents have to shell out for a new park and views?
When Highway 99 becomes a tunnel and the Viaduct comes down next year, Seattle starts work on the waterfront of its dreams . There’ll be a bike corridor...
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The risks of tunnel tolling, congestion pricing and I-5
Kim Malcolm talks with reporter Carolyn Adolph about the risks faced by the state of Washington as it considers tolling the Highway 99 Tunnel.
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Refugee business owners deliver grievance letter to City of Tukwila
Business owners and community members marched to Tukwila City Hall last Thursday to deliver a letter protesting a proposed police station and courthouse...